The Controlling Ways of Love and Life
by DeerProngs
Summary: There was a boy and there was a girl. This boy and this girl were tied together by fate. Fate had decided to place her grubby, controlling little fingers in their separate lives and they were never to be separated again.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** Characters and world were created by JK Rowling.

**A/N:** I'm really excited for this fic! There was more to this prologue but it got deleted, much to my dismay. On a different note, I'm planning to have a lot of chapters, going from Marauders' Era fifth year to November 1st 1981.

* * *

**Prologue**

There was a boy.

He was very fortunate, much loved, and very cared for. Because of this, he was flawed. He was spoiled, arrogant, and as stubborn as a mule. His view of the world was in black in white – there was only good and bad, nothing more nothing less. This boy – this arrogant boy – loved to be in control. He wanted everything to go his way, and if they didn't, they would.

There was a girl.

She was very smart, very caring, and very loving. She had a heart big enough for most. But she was human, and had flaws. She was stubborn, snobby, self-righteous, and too proud for anyone's good. She hated being controlled. There was going to be no one to tell her what to do.

This boy and this girl were tied together by fate.

Fate had stuck her grubby, controlling fingers in their lives and intertwined them together.

They couldn't control it – they couldn't stop it. They couldn't disentangle themselves from each other. This boy and this girl were destined to love, to marry, to have a son, and then die a merciless death.

Together they brought hope into the world. The world driven by fear and madness, featuring Dark Lords and masked cowards. The world void of love.

Their love - their unbeatable connection - was the only source of comfort in such a world.

It ran deep, right to the very last bone in their bodies.

Their love - their long-suffering need for each other - was enough to show people that hope was not lost.

It was them - that spoiled boy and that proud girl - that were the light in the dark.

That boy - with the messy black hair and bright hazel eyes - and that girl - with the thick dark red hair and emerald green eyes - were destined to fall in love. Destined to give the world it's savior. Because of this destiny - this love - they were willing to die for each other. They were willing to enter the unknown for each other.

Because fate had decided to place her grubby, controlling little fingers in their separate lives and they were never to be separated again.

Together, in their short, 21 year lives, they find everything they need in each other and more.

His name was James Potter.

Her name was Lily Evans.


	2. When No One's Watching

**Disclaimer:** Characters and world were created by JK Rowling.

**A/N:** I think this chapter might be a little cliche (which is funny because I'm trying not to make this cliche) but I felt it needed to be writing. I'm trying make this as close to canon as possible, so Lily and James will still be getting together in their seventh year, no matter what.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**When No One's Watching**

_Mudblood._

Lily swiped at her eyes. Why was she crying? Why was she crying over someone clearly not worth it - that much was proved today?

Because he was her friend.

Sev - no, Snape - had been her friend - best friend - for years. They had met when they were only nine.

He had even said it didn't matter, her being Muggle-born.

But he lied.

It did matter. It was that that ruined their friendship. Well, that and his love for Dark Magic.

All those years of Lily making excuses for him and he still did what she feared.

He called her Mudblood.

She should have known. With the way he treated her sister, it should've been clear to her. But no, she was blinded by magic and the discovery of it all that she blocked out the bad.

Bur now, magic had already taken away two people from her.

First, Petunia and, now, Snape.

Was there no where she belonged?

In the Muggle world, she was a freak - an unknown. But in the Magical world, she was a filthy Mudblood and wasn't supposed to be there.

Now Snape's on his way to become a Death Eater and Petunia hates her guts - she really doesn't belong anywhere.

With that horrifying realization, Lily finally gave into the tears and cried. The Common Room was empty, anyway. Most had already gone to bed but since Lily had to talk to Snape, she was wide awake.

After a couple minutes of crying on the floor in front of the fire, the portrait door opened.

Lily turned to see a tired looking James Potter slip into the Common Room. She inwardly groaned.

Couldn't the world give her a break? Couldn't it have been someone she didn't know? Merlin, why did it have to be someone she really didn't need to deal with right now - especially considering the day's events?

She prayed to anyone who would listen that he wouldn't notice her.

But, no, her efforts proved futile when she accidentally let out a loud sniff, giving her away.

James turned to his position near the stairs. His eyes widened when he saw the way the redheaded girl looked.

Hair mused and wayward, tears rolling down her face, puffy pink cheeks, and bloodshot eyes - James would argue that she still looked as pretty as always, though.

"...Evans?" James questioned warily.

"...Potter," Lily greeted in an attempt at a casual voice that was ruined by a teary sob at the end.

"Are - are you alright?" James asked, cautiously walking towards her.

"What does it look like?" Lily asked sardonically, gesturing to her appearance.

"Well, that's usually what people ask in these situations," James said, plopping down next to her. Lily looked at him closely and noticed that he looked very uncomfortable, cautious, and uneasy. She'd never seen him look so under confident.

"How are you?" James tried again.

"Not good," Lily gave a watery laugh.

"Are you angry with me?"

"Yes."

"So why are you letting me sit with you?" James asked, sounding honestly confused. Lily herself didn't know the answer to his question.

"Because you're here." Lily realized after a couple seconds.

"I'm sorry," James stated sincerely. Lily looked back over at him and noticed he was already staring at her with intense eyes and had a serious expression that she had never seen before.

"For what?"

"For getting you dragged into me and Snape's fight. I'm not sorry for fighting him, though - I'm really not. I'm sorry that you were the one who ended up getting hurt."

After a couple seconds were spent absorbing his apology, Lily spoke.

"I'm sorry, too." James looked shocked and Lily would have laughed at his near comical expression if it weren't for the situation.

"I said some really mean things to you today... I didn't mean all of it and I certainly wouldn't have said that to your face. It was mostly just righteous anger."

"...So you don't think I'm a jerk...?"

"Sometimes you can be...but other times you can be alright. Like now," Lily supplied truthfully.

Sure, James acted like a big jerk most of the time, but when he thought nobody was looking, he could be a decent human being.

"I... well, this is a little embarrassing... All of those you talked about in your little...tirade...I did it because I - um - fancy you," James said self-consciously. Lily was surprised. He had really gone about that the wrong way. When she looked at James, she saw he was blushing.

"...You really went about that the wrong way..." Lily said truthfully after a short awkward silence.

"I figured as much," To his surprise, Lily laughed.

"Why... why do you fancy me?" She asked, confused.

James Potter was one of the most popular guys in their year – if the not the most. Lily knew probably half of the girls at Hogwarts would gladly drop their panties for him. Why would he like her if she didn't even like him? She definitely wasn't the most desirable, as today proved.

"Fishing for compliments, are you, Evans?"

"No - it's just - why would you take _me_ - the swot, the priss, the prig, the Mudblood-"

"Don't call yourself that. You're not," James interrupted angrily.

"Yes, I am! I'm a Mudblood-"

"No, you're not! You only are if you let them make you believe you are. You're at the top of the class! You are not weak! Don't let them get to you, Lily, or they've already won." Never had Lily ever heard James direct so much anger towards her.

"I don't belong here. I don't belong anywhere!" Lily argued

"You belong here as much as I do!"

"Then how come – how come I lost my best friend?"

"Because he's a predigest git!" Lily glared at James for his exclamation. He backtracked, "Look, there are some people – purebloods, mostly – that think their better than everyone else. They say it's because they come from a full wizarding line except no knows when it really started. We all have Muggle descent in there somewhere – just for some it's more prominent than others. Without Muggle-borns, we'd all probably be extinct anyway. There's not enough purebloods out there for everyone to keep on marrying them, either.

"So, technically, the wizarding society needs Muggle-borns. So, you do belong here, as much as anyone else who has magic," James finished his mini-rant and the two lapsed into silence. Lily had certainly never thought of things in that way before and it did put a different perspective on things.

"…Thanks." James, surprised, removed his gaze from his hands to see Lily staring at him intensely with an edge of confusion in her gaze.

"For what?"

"For making me feel slightly better," Lily explained and James shot her a half-grin.

"My pleasure," James said with a dramatic bow of his head. Lily laughed a little and wiped off the remaining tears on her face. She looked over at James wistfully once she'd sobered up a bit.

"Hey… James…" she started nervously, actually using his first name for once. "Do you think we could be...maybe… acquaintances?"

"Yes," he replied quickly and surely. Lily laughed again. She extended a pale hand.

"So, acquaintances?" James accepted the hand and shook.

"Acquaintances." After the shaking had ended, though, both James and Lily were reluctant to pull away. Her emerald green orbs bore into his bright hazel ones with an intensity that surprised the both of them. Their hands were quickly becoming sweaty but, still, neither withdrew. The sexual tension in the room seemed to hike up several notches.

As the air around them turned awkward, finally, Lily – reluctantly, mind you – pulled away and James' previously held hand was up in his hair as he cleared his throat.

"Um, I'm gonna try and get some sleep, now…" Lily said, even though she knew full well that she wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight. No, especially not after the day's events and now this midnight encounter on top of it – she'd have a lot to think about.

"Yeah, alright," James said. "I should be too, anyways," he added and then got up at the same time as Lily. They made their way to the staircase leading to their separate dormitories in silence, both clearly lost in their thoughts of the other. They parted ways with a wave from James and a simple raised hand from Lily.

As she settled into her bed in her dorm, Lily couldn't help but think about how much more she liked this version of James Potter – the one that only came out when no one was watching – than the other one.

* * *

**A/N: **I know it was short, but I'm gonna try to make a longer chapter next time. Thanks for reading! Review, please!


	3. Equally Stubborn

**Disclaimer:** Characters and world were created by JK Rowling.

**A/N: **I really loved writing this. I was thinking of doing the whole summer in one chapter, but decided against it because I wanted to show the similarities between Lily and James and their characters. There is a part that goes over Sirius' detachment from his family that was particularly hard (Walburga is a tricky person) but I'm really proud of how it turned out. Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**Equally Stubborn**

Lily did not know why it had started.

But she'd never hated anything more.

She had absolutely no idea why her brain had taken to spending most of it's waking moments thinking about James Potter. And, to be honest, it was the most frustrating thing on the planet. Not that it was anything new – no, her brain had been doing this to her since the term had started – but now, it had become unbearable. Before, it had been easy to block out his stupid shit-eating grin, but ever since they had been on first-name terms, she couldn't seem to push out his amazing hazel eyes.

Just referring to his eyes as amazing is enough evidence to show that she has a very large problem. She can't even resist from laughing when he makes a joke anymore or tear her wandering eyes from his messy nest of raven colored hair – that'd she had learned to love effortlessly.

She had _thought_ that the madness would end once she got home and he was nowhere near her line of sight but she was wrong. It had somehow gotten worse. She wanted to see him, just so she could fulfill her stupid brain's wishes. Then, she'd stop thinking about him and her life would be in order again.

_You do realize that's never gonna happen – right? _

A voice in Lily's head commented. It sound suspiciously like her best friend, Marlene Mckinnon, who always had a lot to say – she certainly did when Lily told her about her and James becoming acquaintances.

_You're gonna keep thinking about him anyway. You wanna know why?_

_No. _Lily disagreed with the voice; she didn't want to hear what she knew the voice would say.

_You fancy James Potter. You have ever since the term started!_

"I do _not_ fancy James Potter!" Lily screamed to no one and buried her face in her pillows. She groaned loudly, because she wasn't so sure of that fact anymore.

She guessed she should be grateful. At least she wasn't thinking about Snape – that's one subject she really didn't have the heart to touch on yet. Even though this is not much better, it didn't make her insufferably sad. True, James Potter made her dreadfully frustrated but she'd take wanting to punch a wall to crying her eyes out any day.

How had this whole fancying mess started anyways?

She couldn't pinpoint the exact moment but there was one that was especially clear in her mind. Sometime between the winter holidays and the spring ones, Lily had decided that she did not hate James Potter's entire being. After he had saved Snape from Merlin knows what – no one would tell her, so she eventually just let it go – even though he and Snape had hated each other from the start, she had recognized that he wasn't a completely terrible human being. She just hated how he acted.

A couple days after the Easter holidays, because of her natural grace, she tripped over her feet and crashed right into someone's back – resulting in her books landing everywhere and ink spilling all over the homework she had just finished at the library. Because of the force that she hit the guy's back with, she was fall back fast, but, luckily, she was caught by the person behind her. James.

She had no idea how long she spent staring into his eyes – which she had long since realized were completely gorgeous – but it was long enough to make James nervous and her face to heat up. She muttered her thanks and then moved to pick her books up off the floor. To her great surprise, he bent down to help.

After every last paper and book was picked up – and her homework was fixed – James stood to leave and then Sirius Black rounded the corner with an annoyed expression.

"Prongs! Where have you been?! It's a-!" Black had started and then he saw Lily and shut up abruptly. He glared at James fiercely but James was still nonchalant. "C'mon! We don't have all day!" Black said impatiently before swaggering away, not checking to see if James was following. Luckily for Black, he was. Long after he'd left, Lily was still bewildered. He had had somewhere to be, yet he had decided to help her and be late.

And from that moment on, Lily couldn't get enough of those hazel eyes, no matter how much she didn't like how he acted some of the time.

"Lily!"

Lily was snapped out of her musings when she heard her father call her from downstairs.

"Yes, Dad?" She yelled back, abandoning her position on her bed.

"Your friend's at the door!" Her father yelled back and Lily inwardly groaned. She hoped to Merlin that it wasn't the one friend that wasn't a friend anymore. _Time to face the music_, Lily thought as she left the safety of her room to meet this 'friend.'

Once she had made it to the door, she was greeted by the person she hoped it wouldn't be.

Thanks, Merlin.

"Lily. I need to talk to you," Snape said urgently, a grimace appearing on his face when he saw the way Lily was scowling at him.

"Save it." She made to slam the door in his face but he clamped a hand on her wrist to stop her. Lily flinched away from his touch.

"Didn't think you'd want to touch a filthy Mudblood," she commented coldly.

"I didn't mean to call you Mudblood!" he pleaded. "It just slipped out!"

Lily laughed humorlessly. "Right. I'm sure it did. I'm also sure it just slips out every other time you call someone Mudblood," she deadpanned.

"What about Potter-?" Snape started but Lily cut him off quickly. She wasn't to go over this argument again.

"He has _nothing_ to do with this! This is about you and me! You want to be a Death Eater and they want to kill people like me. We're fighting on different sides of a war," Lily said, cutting Snape off every time he tried to open his mouth.

"We don't have to be!"

"Yes, we bloody well do! I can't fight for a cause that wants to kill me and you don't seem very willing to give up your Dark Magic – that's why we're here isn't it?"

"Lily, you're going to get yourself killed on the other side-!"

"I'd rather die than be on yours," Lily said and slammed the door on his shocked face. After a spending a few minutes silently fuming, Lily went into the kitchen to find her dad seated at the table, drinking his afternoon tea.

"What was that about?" Her father asked, obviously having heard the argument.

"Nothing… Just don't let him into the house again."

* * *

James knew exactly when it had started.

It was 4th year, he'd say, but maybe it was long before that – way back when they had first met.

James was 14 and that was year his hormones didn't seem to want to take a break. He had seen her, laughing and joking around with some friends, with the most gorgeous smile on her face and he was hooked. Butterflies threw a party in his stomach and something was pulling on his heartstrings so tightly that he thought he'd implode. He'd never felt such sensations before. Sure, he had had several crushes and relationships before Lily Evans, but none had ever made him feel that way from just a smile.

No, Lily Evans was the real deal. James had always been the romantic type – the kind that believed that there was one person in the world perfect for everybody. If she was the one, he didn't see reason to try and find anyone else when someone perfect was right in front of him.

Of course, hopelessly fancying someone came with a price – countless smacks over the head from your friends, jealousy, nervousness, embarrassment, and self-consciousness – just to name a few. But it all was worth it, or, at least, it was starting to be. Because every time James was able to make Lily smile that perfect smile of hers, everything felt like it was going to be okay.

Merlin, if Sirius could hear his thoughts right now…

Right now, James was at home and currently bored out of his mind. Both his parents were gone and he had no friends around to keep him company. It was just him and the house-elves in Potter Manor today.

He sighed heavily.

His parents were Aurors. They were gone working or on missions most of the time. It was rather straining on James, but he tried not to think about it all the time. Peter was in Spain with his mother and wouldn't be back until August. Remus couldn't come over because the full moon was in a couple days. And Sirius… James honestly didn't know this time. He had tried owling his friend but, this summer, he was unreachable. He hadn't heard a thing from him since the first week of the holiday.

He hoped he was okay. Sirius' family wasn't the nicest. They couldn't really be considered nice at all, actually. According to them, Sirius was a disgrace. He was first Gryffindor in a full family of Slytherin. He's been an outcast ever since the Sorting Hat had placed him in the house of the brave.

Sirius, being the rebellious sort of kid that he was, embraced his diversity proudly. Gryffindor pride was not lost him, oh no. He disagreed with his family's pro-pureblood view and was happy to learn Muggle culture. His bedroom was a good example of this. Anything germane to Muggles, Gryffindor, and anything else his family was sure to hate was hung up on the walls – with a permanent sticking charm – making it almost unrecognizable to the rest of the house.

His mother, Walburga Black, had tried to enforce her opinions and wishes on her heir but her efforts always proved futile. She wanted her first-born son to be a proud Slytherin, possibly on his way to becoming a Death Eater – like Bellatrix, she'd say. Sirius was having none of it, of course, and the animosity there was clear.

But, what to do, that was what was really on James Potter's mind today. No one to entertain him and there was only so many ways to keep himself occupied. James had never been one to sit still.

_I wish I could Apparate_, James thought bitterly as he got up from his bed. He started pacing around his room, occasionally running a frustrated hand through his hair.

Tap, tap.

James was distracted from his misery by a taping sound at his window. He knew at once that it was an owl and was overjoyed that someone had decided to release him from his boredom. He practically ran to the window and was promptly overcome by an overwhelming sense of disappointment when he saw the owl. It was Cale, his mother's owl. Sadly, James let him in.

Gorgeous brown wings fluttering, Cale flew in impatiently and landed on the desk. James took the letter from it's beak glumly and opened it:

_Dear James,_

_I'm sure you're very aggravated right now and "dying" from your dramatized boredom, but I can't do anything about it right now. Your father and I have a mission to go on that might take days. I know you're perfectly capable of taking care of yourself (I can practically hear you huffing in reluctant agreement right now). You can invite one of your friends over to keep you company if you want._

_Love you always,_

_Mum x_

James had to refrain from screaming out his frustration. This was just bloody great! There were no friends left –

Suddenly the image of fiery red hair appeared in James' mind and he was shocked at how he hadn't thought of it before.

Would Lily even want to talk to him? They weren't friends and he wasn't sure if she'd take too kindly to his letters. But she might be the only way for him to escape this paralyzing boredom. So James, ignoring his worries, grabbed a quill and parchment and began writing his letter to Lily.

* * *

Lily Evans was just about dying of boredom. Because her sister, Petunia, didn't want her to have friends over during holidays ("one freak is enough"), Lily was staring at the lavender wall in her room sullenly.

Tap, tap.

She looked up. An unfamiliar, gorgeously white owl was at her window, waiting to be granted access. Wondering who the letter was from; Lily opened her window and then received the letter. She gave the unknown owl a treat but it still waited, seemingly been told previously to wait for a response.

Lily opened the letter and read:

_Dear Evans,_

_It's James, if you're wondering. This is Felena, my owl. She's really nice – as long as you give her some kind of sustenance. I'm writing to you because I'm bored out of my mind and was just about to start ripping paint off of the walls when I got this idea:_

_Write someone!_

_Of course, now I feel unfathomably daft for not coming up with such a brill idea before but I got over it long enough to write this. Basically, Peter's in Spain ('till August), Remus is sick, and Sirius is unreachable at the moment (looking into it). So, lucky devil you are, were the next choice!_

_I'm home alone and will be for the next few days (I can take care of myself, don't sorry – I'm a man of many talents). So I'm assigning you to the job of offering me entertainment by means of letters. Good luck, I'm not an easily swayed person – some refer to me as persistent, actually. _

_From,_

_The Infamous James Potter _

_P.S.: I've always wondered what the "P.S." means. Do you know?_

Lily burst into laughter. The letter was just so _James Potter_ that she had to giggle. The ridiculousness of the entire thing was enough to make her forget about being bitter for a couple minutes. Once the amusement had subsided a bit, Lily started composing her reply.

* * *

**Dear Potter,**

**It's nice to know that I was your fourth choice to for your letter. Makes me feel special. Jokes aside, it's a really good you wrote me because I was in a similar state of boredom when I received your owl. You're right, Felena is really sweet. It's a wonder how she got stuck with a toerag like you.**

**So I'm your entertainment slave now? Oddly enough, I don't remember signing up for such a job. It's a good thing I'm working for 'The Infamous James Potter' or else I'd quit. It's a truly an honor to serve you, Sir. I have also heard that you were a persistent bloke somewhere before, but I can assure you, I'm much more stubborn than you.**

**What have you been doing this summer so that you forgot simple means of communication such as writing letters? Obviously you've been losing your cherished brain cells from all that Quidditch. Maybe you should take a break. You obviously can't be trusted on your own.**

**From,**

**Lily Better-Than-You Evans**

**P.S.: "P.S." means post-script.**

_Evans,_

_So much cheek in one letter. How is it that you can make just about everything sound vicious? Is that a practice? _

_It's good to know that this is a win-win situation, now I won't feel guilty (not that I was going to). It's a pleasure to make Lily Evans feel special. And, no, you don't sign up for this job – it just happens. That's was 'assigning' means. You're damn right it's an honor to serve me. Most popular and fittest bloke in school (I can almost hear you scoffing from here). _

_I find it hard to believe that there's a human being on this planet more stubborn than me, sorry. And I've only went out to fly like eight times so far. So ha. And I so too can be trusted on my own – my parents leave me alone all the time and the house is still intact! So double ha! Ha ha!_

_James_

_P.S.: That actually makes a lot of sense._

_P.P.S.: "Lily Better-Than-You Evans"? Is that right? And you call _me_ arrogant._

**Potter,**

**Yeah, you just have to be around incompetent people a lot to gain such a skill. I'm sure you don't know the feeling. And I don't doubt that you wouldn't have felt guilty. I hope you realize that everything I say is not supposed to be sexual, right? It doesn't seem like it.**

**I know what 'assigning' means, you prat. Serving you is almost as much of an honor as marrying Filch is. Most popular and fittest bloke in school my arse! Your arrogance has begun to reach new levels of severity. We're gonna have to ship you to St. Mungo's if your head gets any bigger. Do you think there's a 'Too Big Ego' ward? **

**You don't think I'm more stubborn than you? HA! And 8 times in 2 weeks is a lot, actually. I'd like to meet your parents one day (DO NOT READ INTO THAT) and see if they need to be checked for signs of mental illness because there's no way they think **_**you're**_** responsible. And I'm willing to bet your house is just barely intact.**

**Lily**

**P.S.: Obviously.**

**P.P.S: You **_**are**_** arrogant. And, yes, that is right.**

_Lily,_

_I do too spend time with incompetent people a lot! How do you explain Sirius? Or Peter? And yes, I do realize that but it doesn't mean that I can't interpret it that way._

_Do you mean to say you'd rather marry Filch than serve me?! That's a serious offense, ma'am. I am too the most popular and fittest bloke in school! My arrogance is perfectly in check, for your information. And St. Mungo's most certainly does NOT have a 'Too Big Ego' ward._

_I am so more stubborn than you, Lily Evans. No one can bet my stubbornness. It's unrivaled. Also, 8 times in 2 weeks is not a lot, it's only a little more than half. On a different note, you can meet my parents actually (I WILL SO READ INTO THIS). They came back last night. My house, contrary to your mistaken belief, is perfectly fine, thank you very much._

_James_

_P.S.: Rude._

**James,**

**Why, may I ask, do you feel the need to interpret everything I say to be sexual? Or to work to your benefit? **

**Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. And, no, you're not, Black is, actually. St. Mungo's is going to have to create a ward for too big egos and name it after you. I can see it now – The James Potter ward, named after the poor sod who's head exploded from his ego. **

**YOU ARE NOT MORE STUBBORN THAN ME, JAMES POTTER! I can rival your petty stubbornness easily. There. **

**I TOLD YOU NOT TO READ INTO THAT! And I probably couldn't go to your house to observe this supposed intactness or meet your parents, who have apparent clouded judgments, anyway. I'd have no way of getting there.**

**Lily**

* * *

Sirius Black was beyond done.

The night had started out simple enough.

He was just having dinner with his family. It was regular – they would ignore him and leave him out and he would pretend it didn't bother him. Except, tonight, his mother was talking the war.

The Blacks – or the "respectful" ones, at least – were very pro-Voldemort. Sirius was _not_ a "respectful" Black, not by any means. So when his mother had struck up a conversation about sides in the war, he was not standing for it.

"Boy, you have to stop hanging around such filth," Walburga had started, in her usual cold voice. A growl emitted from Sirius' throat. "When it's time for you to join the Dark Lord-"

"I'm _not_ gonna join Voldemort!" Sirius yelled loudly. His mother was momentarily taken about by his tone, but rounded on him with her own frosty glare when the shock subsided.

"You will _not_ take that tone with me, boy! You are a _Black_, start acting like it! I will not have you tarnishing the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black's good name!"

Sirius stood up angrily. "According to you, I've been tarnishing 'The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black' ever since I was sorted into Gryffindor! Guess I should follow the trend, no?"

Walburga stood up to match her son's level, even though he'd be taller than her either way.

"You're the heir, but you're hanging out with blood traitors and Mudbloods and all the other filth in Gryffindor! You can still redeem yourself-"

"I don't wanna be redeemed!"

"Why can't you be like Regulus?!" The boy in reference froze at the mention of his name. He had been sitting in dread silently, praying that he wouldn't be brought into the argument. His hopes were dashed, obviously, and he looked up at his mother in fear.

"You're supposed to be in Slytherin," Walburga continued. Sirius scoffed. "And willing to join the Dark Lord when you're finished with school!"

"I don't want to join the Dark Lord! I don't want to be some murderer at 18! I don't want the same things as you!" Sirius said bitterly. His mother raised her wand and looked at him with poorly veiled malice. Sirius took out his own wand, ready to defend himself if he needed to.

"You will. Or you'll be a disgrace to this entire family!"

"Then I don't want to be a part of this family anymore!"

Sirius' declaration was met with silence.

Inside, he was feeling very disordered but none of that leaked onto his face. He wanted to leave – oh yes, he was done with his family and their expectations – but at the same time, he regretted everything. He wanted his family to like him – more than anything – but he realized that they didn't. Wouldn't. They were never going to because he was never going to change for them. He would – he really would – but it wasn't right. Nothing his family did was right in the grand scheme of things, even if it _seemed_ right now. So he was done. Truly and utterly done. If his family wanted him to be a murderer then he wouldn't. He couldn't be a Death Eater. If they won't accept him for who he was, he wasn't going to stick around. It may hurt but he refused to work for Voldemort. And, maybe, if he kept telling himself that, the pain would go away.

Inside Regulus, he was feeling sad. He wanted to do something but he was not brave. He was not brave like Sirius. He was not a Gryffindor. He had to do what his family wanted for him. It's the right thing to do. He had to live up to his mother's expectations – be the good kid. But that didn't make it hurt any less. He wished things would go back to the way they were before Hogwarts. Back when he and Sirius were just brother and brother, without any war or complications to get in the way. What Regulus really wanted was his big brother back. There was nothing to numb that pain.

Inside Walburga and Orion, they were feeling resentful. They were not going to forgive him this time. He'd gone too far this time. He was a disgrace to the Black family name and they didn't need him getting in the way, feeding his delusions of a good side to Regulus. There was no good in this war. There were only two evils fighting for power. And they already knew which evil was going to win. Sirius was going to die on the other side but if he won't see reason, then damn him.

Walburga raised her wand higher and firmed her grip. Sirius pointed his alertly.

"You _dare_-"

"Yes, I dare! I'm done with this entire family! I will not become a murderer! I will not work for your Dark Lord!"

Walburga looked him on with loathing. "You are a shame! You make me a humiliation! _Crucio_!" Walburga sent off the unforgivable to her son but he made a shield and started running upstairs. She followed him.

"_Defodio_!" She didn't seem to care about what got damaged. She just ran after him shooting spell after spell. Most missed, but some did hit it's target, hurting him in some way. Sirius reached his bedroom door and locked himself inside. He only spent a couple seconds inside before running back out with his Hogwarts trunk.

"Where're you supposed to go?!" Walburga taunted him.

"Anywhere but here!" Was the hurried reply. She ran after him. Soon, there were in the handsome foyer, glaring at each other, wands raised.

Sirius was bruised and bloodied from all his mother's spells. He felt that his left wrist was broken but the adrenaline racing through his veins distracted him from the pain.

"I'm giving you one last chance, son-" Walburga started in a voice trembling with anger but she was interrupted.

"I am not your son anymore," Sirius said quietly before leaving 12 Grimmauld Place for what he hoped was the last time.

Once he had calmed down and his heart stopped pumping so violently, Sirius became very confused. He had nowhere to go. He now had no family left that gave a cared about him. He could've died right there and no one would care. …No one except his friends. They were his family now.

So, ignoring the pain in every inch of his body and the tears threatening to leak out of his eyes, Sirius pointed his want at the street and took the Knight Bus to Potter Manor.

* * *

James had been writing his letter to back to Lily when he heard the banging at the door. Curious at who would be at the door so late at night, James made to go open it. Once in the foyer, he made to answer the door when his mother came rushing down the stairs.

"James! Don't open it! I'll do it," Dorea said, pushing James back. "It might not be safe," Her son huffed in annoyance but didn't argue. The banging became louder, more urgent. Dorea cautiously approached the door and retrieved her wand. Warily, she opened the door and was horrified by the sight.

Standing on her doorstep was a painfully beaten Sirius Black, bloodied and bruised. His eyes were clouded with agony and unshed tears.

"Sirius!" Dorea shrieked, pulling him into the house as gently as possible. James ran towards his currently pain-ridden friend.

"What happened?!" He asked worriedly, his hero-complex coming into play.

"I left them…" Sirius explained hoarsely. He looked as if he was trying very hard to stay conscious. Dorea moved James out of the way so she could carry Sirius into the sitting room and lay him down.

James looked ready to say something else but his mother silenced him.

"Just let him sleep for now, I need to heal him and it'll be much easier for me to do that if he is sleeping. You can question him later," She said, taking out her wand. Sirius had finally succumbed to unconsciousness.

"You can go, James," She dismissed distractedly as she started checking to see his injuries.

"I'm not leaving him!" James refused obstinately and then sat down in the chair closest to his best friend. Dorea sighed and shook her head; her son was too stubborn for his own good.

* * *

Lily was worried. She hadn't received a reply from James yet. It usually took one day Felena for travel to James' house, wherever it is. It'd already been five days and she usually got a response in a day.

What if something had happened to him? Should she send him another letter with Tilly, her own owl? Would that seem too clingy? Wait – why did she care so much anyway? They weren't friends, just acquaintances. She shouldn't be worrying; he didn't have an obligation to write her anyway.

Nevertheless, she still wanted to know why he hadn't written her back. After another day of anxiety, Lily started composing another letter to James, trying desperately not to sound clingy and pathetic.

_Dear__James__Potter__ James,_

_What happened to you?__ Are you okay? __You haven't written me back yet, so I was just wondering. What got in the way of you answering my letter?_

_Has something happened because you never wrote back? Not that you have any obligation to write me back or anything. No, not at all. Just, are you alright?_

All her attempts sounded clingy and pathetic. In the end, she ended up on deciding for him to write her back. Yeah, girls were never supposed to write first anyway-

Dear Merlin, now she was sounding like one of those girls who read magazines religiously and followed every word in them.

_Why so much inner turmoil over James, huh?_

Oh damn it all! Not this again! _Okay, fine, brain, I'll write to James Potter! You happy?!_

_Very!_

Lily groaned loudly. She stared at the wall and crossed her arms willfully. All this over a letter! She really was too stubborn for anyone's good.


	4. Vanishing Turf

**Disclaimer: **Characters and world were created by JK Rowling.

**A/N: **Even though I hate Peter with a fiery, burning passion, I'm not going to make him nonexistent. He was a good person for a while and that will be stressed. So he will contribute to the story and whatnot – not just be the 'Ugly Marauder' and never saying more that what's needed. When he gets older, however, I'll have to try very hard not to kill him off when an opportunity presents itself (no, just kidding… mostly).

I had so much fun writing this chapter, since there's so much more dialogue, which leaves more time for me to come up with jokes and more laughing on my part. The girls are much easier to write, but maybe that's because I'm a girl myself. I do love writing the Marauders, though. In this chapter, my two main OCs will be introduced, Elodia Porterfield and Sadie Hill. I'm hoping they don't turn out like Mary-Sue's desperately, but we'll see.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**Vanishing Turf**

When Peter Pettigrew returned from his extended trip to Spain in August, his first plan was to go see his friends.

What he saw when he arrived at Potter Manor was not to be expected from the infamous Marauders, however. It was an abnormality to see James Potter actually sit still and write a letter. It was certainly strange to see Sirius Black staring off into the distance with a pensive expression on his face, brooding. The oddest, though, was seeing Remus Lupin trying to get his friends to loosen up.

"Who are you and what have you done with my best friends?" Peter's incredulous voice made the boys stop what they were doing to greet him. Or, at least, some semblance of a greeting.

Sirius just grunted and continued staring. James waved a disinterested hand. Remus shot out of his chair and said, "Wormtail! Finally you're here!"

"I'll repeat: Who are you and what have you done with my friends?" Peter asked again.

"We're them," James answered distractedly, his hand still moving on the parchment.

"So why are you…like this?"

"Like what?" Remus was the one to reply this time.

"Padfoot is not being a…prat, Prongs is actually sitting still, and you are trying to get them to do something. That's literally never happened before."

Finally, all of his friends looked up from their occupations.

"I'm writing a letter to Lily," James explained, and it became slightly more obvious to Peter as to why his friend was not fidgeting around as he usually did.

"I'm thinking," Sirius said moodily. This one didn't make sense at all.

"You _don't_ think," Peter said, leaning against the wall. Sirius glared. "And, you, Moony?"

"I'm trying to get these two to stop thinking and writing," Remus rolled his eyes, as if this was obvious.

"See: If Moony is trying to loosen you up, you've got it bad," Peter commented flippantly. Remus scowled at him and crossed his arms.

"It's not my fault they're acting all – weird," Remus defended. Peter could agree with this fact – their best friends were not, after all, acting like their usual immature (not that he would tell them that) selves.

"Look, I'm finished with my letter now," James said and his words proved to be true when he ended his last sentence with a flourish. He folded the parchment up and put it into an envelope. Addressing it to 'Lily', he sent it away with his owl.

"And why – may I ask – were you writing to Evans? I didn't think she liked you enough for that," Peter commented and James directed a glare his way.

"Well, she does. So ha," James explained. "And, if you must know, I was bored so I wrote to her. And she wasn't mad. So double ha. Ha ha _ha_!"

"…That was three 'ha's, I hope you know," This earned Peter another scowl.

"It was for dramatic effect."

"Oh. Then it failed, by the way."

"Wait," it was Remus who spoke up this time. "You wrote her just because you were bored?"

"Yeah."

Remus snorted. "Well, that's certainly romantic."

James crossed his arms and scowled at both Remus and Peter (for association, probably). "What's with all this abuse coming my way, huh?"

"Oh, I was under the impression that abuse was nice – so sorry for the confusion," Remus quipped.

"Rude, Remus," James turned his attention to Sirius, as he was the only one not 'abusing' him. The boy was still staring at the wall sullenly. "Hey, Padfoot," James called, waving a hand in front of his face. Sirius grabbed it rudely and shoved it out of his face. James looked very affronted. Sirius, ignoring this, got up and stalked out of the room.

"What's wrong with him?" Peter asked, as soon as he left, stealing the previously occupied chair.

"He's upset," James said unnecessarily. Peter gave him a flat look.

"No shite."

"You don't have to be mean about, Merlin," James complained.

"When people are acting like idiots, it's only necessary that someone retaliates," said Peter, shrugging. James scowled at him, yet again.

"When-"

"Prongs," Remus interrupted, "how about you just get back to what you were saying?"

"Um, yeah – uh – where was I? Oh yes: Sirius has been moody ever since he got here. And I can't blame him. I imagine getting disowned is some pretty horrible business – and considering the way he looked when he got here, I'm right."

"Oh, yeah…I forgot about that…" Peter said, regret finding it's way into his voice.

"It's not your fault, mate. You were livin' it up in Spain," James joked, clearly trying to lighten up the atmosphere – to no avail.

"Has he been like this the entire time?" Peter asked.

"Yeah, sadly."

"Did he say anything about it?" Remus was the one to ask this time.

"No. I can't get him to talk," James complained.

"Just don't leave him alone for a moment. If he's not thinking about it, we'll be able to get him back to his regular prattish self," suggested Peter.

"Easier said than done."

* * *

Marlene McKinnon had decided to invite her some friends over for the last two weeks of the summer. They'd go to the platform together and go to Diagon Alley together and she had already resolved that they'd all have a great time. The five girls she had asked over were Dorcas Meadowes, Mary MacDonald, Lily Evans, Elodia Porterfield, and Sadie Hill. They were the Gryffindor girls in their year and Marlene's very best friends.

Marlene McKinnon herself was a pureblood from a huge family. She had 7 siblings and 3 of them already had their own families. She was the second youngest and often dramatized her plight as one of the youngest siblings. Like most in her family, she had long, pin-straight, dishwater blonde hair and fair skin, matched perfectly with light blue eyes. As a person, Marlene had something of a mischievous streak in her. She was boisterous and always happy – there was never a time when she wasn't smiling.

Dorcas Meadowes was also a pureblooded witch from a relatively well known family, but not so well known that it had all went to their heads. She had dark skin and an unmanageable, frizzy shock of dark brown hair. Her large doe-eyes were brown and sparkling at all times. In terms of personality, Dorcas was a burst of life, akin to a firework. She was rather two-faced, as moment she was subdued and quiet, while the next, she was the loudest person in the room.

Mary MacDonald, like Lily, was a Muggle-born witch and also experienced torments from her peers because of it. Her hair was short and strawberry blonde and her skin was pale. Her eyes were an unremarkable brown and her nose was cute and small. Mary was very laid-back and her humor was much more witty and sarcastic than her friends. She was often seen as the bimbo of the group, with no brains at all to speak of. And, though she was ashamed to admit it, her first instincts usually resembled those of a very slaggy person.

Elodia Porterfield was a pureblood, like two other of her friends. They weren't one of those large name purebloods that relied solely on their surnames but they were popular – even if they were nearly extinct in the male line. Elodia had tanned skin and a curly, dark brown mane of hair. Her unnoticeably green eyes were a little too far-apart and a little too small. Elodia was often Mary's wing-woman and was also seen as a slut in other groups. But those people didn't know her personally, and, consequently, they didn't witness her snarky humor and clever habits. She was secretly exceptionally smart, and the fact that she had looks as well was only better for her. You'd hardly see Elodia Porterfield without a smirk on her face.

And, last but not least (though she feels like it), was Sadie Hill. She was a halfblooded witch with a round, freckled face framed by thick blonde ringlets. Her features, in her personal opinion, were quite unexceptional. Her eyes were too large, her nose too small, and her mouth way too undersized. To an outsider, Sadie seemed as the shy one out of the vivacious girls that she frequented herself with. And they might be correct. She was the least remarkable and, so, the least talked about. She had compassion and potential that was only seen by her best friends and no one else. And that was just the way she wanted it (that was what she told herself, at least).

Currently, the girls were holed up in Marlene's bedroom, catching up on each other's summers.

"I went to Brazil. It was great and all, but then my brother had to go and get sick – he ruined the entire trip, the brat," Elodia had said glumly. Sadie laughed.

"At least you went somewhere – I was stuck at home all summer, dying a slow tortuous death," she exaggerated, scoffing and flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder. Every other girl in the room rolled their eyes at her dramatics.

"Same. I was here the entire time, helping my sister take care of her latest procreation," Marlene drawled. "I don't why she had to go and get pregnant again."

"I don't understand it either! Why on earth would anyone want 4 kids?" Dorcas asked, incredulous.

"Hell if I know. I blame my mother – she's the one that just had to have 7 kids," Marlene complained.

"Moving on – I went to Paris. The city of love if you didn't know. Unsurprisingly, France has a lot of fit blokes living there. That can to _magnificent_ things to your neck. Just an observation," said Mary in a cheerful voice. She must've been recounting her memories with fit French guys that everyone was sure had nothing to do with talking.

"And while Mary was doing only Merlin knows what with fit blokes in France, I was just about to die of boredom," Lily said. "Well, that is, if he hadn't written me," she covered her mouth with her hands, as if she had said too much (and she had).

All the other girls raised their eyebrows.

"'He'?" Marlene questioned, being the nosiest of them all.

"Who's 'he'?" Elodia then asked. She was almost as nosy as Marlene, after all.

"Does Lily have a boy toy?" Mary inquired excitedly.

"And she didn't tell _us_?!" Dorcas gasped.

"I'll kill her!" Sadie stated with a glare.

"No, no, there will be no killing here tonight," Lily said quickly.

"Not unless you tell us who 'he' is," Sadie warned.

"It's no one, calm down."

"That's believable."

"So you just wrote nobody then?" Marlene added with a raise of her brows.

"Y-yes," Lily confirmed but she knows it's a lost cause with five leech-like girls on her case. Her stutter didn't help matters either, mind you.

"O-oh really?" Elodia mocked with a disbelieving scoff.

"You'll never find out, you know," said Lily, even though she wasn't too sure herself. "I won't tell you unless I want to."

Her friends couldn't argue the logic in that, as they knew firsthand that she was as stubborn as a nail.

"Lily Evans, I will get it out of you if it's the last thing I do!" Marlene declared.

"No you won't!" Lily protested, crossing her arms. Marlene saw this as a challenge invite and promptly tackled Lily to the floor.

"Mar! Get off, Mar!" Lily shrieked, attempting to push her off, but Marlene was stronger and bigger than her.

"No!" She yelled. "Tell me!"

"Is no one going to help me? Really?" Lily wondered aloud. "I really need better friends."

"Undoubtedly," Dorcas put in. Lily tried to glare but she was too preoccupied with Marlene.

"Get the buggering hell off me, you _daft_ cow!" Lily yelled, still pushing at the larger girl – to no avail, obviously.

"Not until I learn you 'he' is!" Marlene yelled – right in Lily's ear, according to her wince – tightening her grip on her best friend.

"Yeah!" Dorcas encouraged while Elodia, Mary, and Sadie cheered. Lily practically growled.

"What have you been eating, Mar?! A bloody hipogriff?!" Lily asked incredulously.

"Yeah, I had some of that last Saturday," Marlene remarked dryly.

"Well it's going straight to your thighs – no, seriously, these things are really flabby! I thought you played Quidditch," Lily retorted, hoping to annoy her so-called best friend.

"Shut up, Ginger," Marlene countered, finally settling in a sitting position on Lily's stomach.

"For your information, I'm a _redhead_-"

"Do I _care_?"

"Well, I wouldn't know, would I? I was just stating simple facts – that _anyone_ with eyes and half a brain would know."

"Is that supposed to be a veiled insult?"

"Is the sky supposed to be blue?"

"You know, you're a real fucker sometimes."

"No, I didn't know that, thank you so much for pointing that out for me, Mar."

"Sometimes, guys, I wonder why we still hang out with her."

"For my looks, obviously."

"Godric, you're almost as annoying as – holy hipogriffs!" Marlene got off of Lily in her moment of realization.

"What?" Every other girl asked almost unanimously.

"James Potter! I've just thought – he's who she's been writing! He's '_he_'!" Marlene exclaimed, making wide gestures with her arms. All the girls' eyes flew to Lily to see if it was true. Unfortunately for her (and fortunately for them), she was cringing. The rest of the girls shot out of their seats, pointing and jumping and yelling, trying and failing to find a way to express their shock.

"Bloody hell!" Elodia exclaimed, with a dropped jaw.

"Agrippa!" Sadie cried, with two comically wide blue eyes.

"Godric!" Dorcas shouted, with frantically moving arms.

"Merlin!" Mary yelled, with an incredulous expression. "Is that true?"

Lily, being the stubborn soul that she was, was determined to stay tight lipped on the subject. She crossed her arms and said, "I don't know. Is it?"

"We don't have time for that crap right now!" Dorcas cried, exasperated.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Every other girl groaned loudly and a tad overdramatically, in Lily's opinion.

"She's so predictable it hurts," Mary grumbled, sitting back down, accepting defeat.

"I am _not_ predictable!" Lily protested and all her 'friends' scoffed.

"Strangely enough, I predicted that," Sadie countered wryly.

Lily rolled her eyes, "Oh, I'm sure."

Elodia decided to take matters in her own hands, marching up to Lily and seizing her arms. She gave her a shake and narrowed her eyes, dictating, "Were you or were you not corresponding with James Potter over the holiday?"

Though she was thinking that Elodia might be good in magical law, Lily stayed defiant. "No!"

"Don't you dare lie to me, Lily Evans!" Elodia demanded, shaking her once again. Lily pushed her off.

"I'm not lying to you! What reason would I have to lie anyways?" Lily argued – rather foolishly, if one was being honest.

Her friends scoffed.

"Seriously?" Sadie asked rhetorically, disbelieving, sitting down next to Mary.

"She'd thick. She must be," Marlene decided.

"I refuse to believe she just said that," Dorcas said, plopping down on Marlene's bed.

"You literally have _all_ the reason to lie," Elodia remarked, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes further.

"When have I ever lied to you?" Lily asked evenly. Yet again, all her friends scoffed.

"She's delusional," Marlene stated, throwing her arms up in the air, but still not relenting.

"Um, what about that time when I was on that date with that Hufflepuff, Sean Nettles, and you told me that Sadie broke her leg." At this, Sadie let out a 'hey' that was easily ignored. "But you really just wanted get me off that date because he was a 'cad'?" Elodia questioned. Lily blushed but she didn't surrender.

"He was, though!"

"But he was fit!" Lily gave her a flat look.

"And I suppose that's all that matters?"

"Mostly, yeah!"

Lily pursed her lips in disapproval, but didn't say anything else on the subject.

"Hey!" Marlene exclaimed. "She still didn't answer our real question!" Lily could've groaned in irritation.

"The answer is still 'no', and it'll always be 'no', so don't bother wasting your breath," she stated, throwing her nose in the air.

"I will continue-" Elodia started but was interrupted by a tapping at the window.

"An owl!" Sadie noticed. Everyone's eyes flew to the window and Lily felt an almost irrepressible urge to bang her head on something very hard.

It was Felena.

"Felena?" Marlene asked no one in particular, having seen the owl many times previously. "What's she – Circe!" Sadie had opened the window and let the beautiful snowy owl into the purple bed room. The bird flew in and swooped right over Marlene's head, almost decapitating her.

Felena glided right over to Lily, who untied the letter carefully, as if hoping her friends couldn't see her doing it. James' owl soared out of the room and they were left in silence.

"So, Lily, what's James' owl doing sending you letters?" Marlene asked smugly.

"James' owl?"

"As in James Potter?"

"The one and only," Marlene answered Elodia and Mary's questions. All the girls rounded on Lily, whose face was redder than her hair.

"You dirty little liar, Lily Evans!" Elodia cried.

"Lily, hand me the letter," Marlene commanded, looking at it greedily (most likely happy at all the teasing she would be able to do). Lily stepped back from the slowly advancing girl.

"Um, why would I do that? It's mine, is it not?" Lily asked, trying to stand her ground.

"You lost your entitlement to your possessions when you lied and betrayed our trust," Marlene said and Lily just had to roll her eyes at this.

"Do you realize how mad that sounds?"

"Lily," Marlene was closer than ever, quickly closing in on her, "I cannot find it in me to care. Now had Mama the letter."

"Mama?" Lily questioned, incredulous.

"_Lily._"

Lily held her letter closer to her chest, attempting to protect it from the hungry look in Marlene's eyes, but, alas, her efforts were soon proved futile when Marlene lunged forward and grabbed it straight out of her hands.

"Hey!"

"Sorry, hun," Marlene apologized without an ounce of sincerity. She ripped open the letter, faced her other friends, and began reading:

_Lily,_

_In my defense, Sirius had dared to me to eat it. And it was only in my mouth for a second before I spit it out. So there. It's really weird how you think I'm arrogant when you can be just as bad as me. Can you say hypocrite? Because I can. I'm not hinting at anything or something like that, though – no, never! It's just, if they ever create that ward at St. Mungo's, you'll be the next person to end up there. _

_I think you just refuse to believe anything I say. Maybe you just have problems, but it seems like a lack of faith and it's rather discouraging. If you don't believe, I'll have to show you the power of the great Potter charm (don't you dare scoff). And then you'll owe me ten gallons. So prepare to eat your words – no, not just eat them, devour them. You'll rue the day you challenged me, Lily Evans!_

_Anyways, Peter has just arrived and you'll be with your friends so I suspect the next time I'll hear from you'll be September 1__st__. _

_James_

They were all silent for a moment.

"Lily," Marlene started, addressing the girl who was biting her lip and looking remarkably like a tomato, "That was flirting."

Lily turned indignant in seconds, protesting, "It was so _not_-"

"_Blatant_ flirting."

"It-"

"Don't deny it," Marlene scolded with a curious expression on her face. It seemed to be a mix of disgust, horror, and excitement.

"I'm disappointed in you, Lily," said Mary, who had no trouble showing her revulsion at this turn of events. "I mean – flirting! With _James Potter_, of all people!"

Lily opened her mouth but Dorcas spoke over her.

"I thought you were 'acquaintances'," she asked with a poorly hidden smug smirk on her face. She had, after all, been thinking that Lily would end up falling for James for a very long time. "What happened to that?"

"We're still acquaintances, but-" Lily tried to defend herself but she was interrupted, once more.

"Because I don't write my acquaintances. Nor do I flirt with them!" Doracs said, her voice rising as her delight leaked through.

Lily tried to speak and was spoken over, _once again_.

"Where'd the hate go, my Lovely Lily? Hm?" Elodia questioned, with unveiled satisfaction all the new gossip, as one might suspect.

"Oh, Lily," Sadie sympathized, for she knew what it was like for her friends to take the mickey out of her for a crush. "Of all the people to fall for-"

Lily had been annoyed at all the assumptions and talking over being done on all her friends parts, but this annoyed her the most. She did not like James. No. _Never_. And since this had always been her soft spot, she blew up accordingly.

"I HAVEN'T FALLEN FOR HIM AND I NEVER WILL! EVER!" Lily yelled over Sadie. A flash over hurt appeared on her friends face before it was covered with a mask of amusement. Of course, no one noticed because they were too busy scoffing at this so-obviously-false claim.

Dorcas raised an eyebrow and said, "When she figures it out for herself, I do not want to be there."

"Oh, please no. Think of the aftermath." Elodia agreed, her eyes shining with laughter as she nodded.

"My naïve, naïve, Lily," Marlene sing-songed, placing an empathetic hand on her friend's back. "You are in denial. Poor, sweet, denial."

"I'm _not_ in denial! I'm denying it because it's not true! I don't like him!" Lily tried to argue, but all her friends were too busy shaking their heads at her suggested naivety.

"Oh, to be young and in love," Sadie joked, holding a hand over her heart and adopting a dreamy expression.

"We're the same age!" Lily cried, still indignant, her face red with either embarrassment or fury.

* * *

It was two days later when the girls had decided to make the necessary trip to Diagon Alley for their Hogwarts supplies. For Lily, it had been two days of nonstop leg pulling form her "best friends". Every single conversation held an allusion to James Potter and, quite honestly, she was sick of hearing it. Merlin help her if someone talked about it once more. Right now, the girls were in Marlene's kitchen, eating breakfast with her parents, Rosa and Ralph McKinnon, and little sister, Joy.

"We were planning to go to Diagon Alley today," Marlene had been saying.

"Do you want us to take you?" Her mother asked them. They shook their heads.

"No, that's fine, thanks, though, Mum," Marlene said as politely as possible. She was too transparent, apparently, because her parents' shared a not-so secretive look.

"Um – sure – when are you planning on leaving?"

"Like 12…?"

"Yeah, alright, I'll have the Floo powder ready by then," Mrs. McKinnon said, rising out of her chair to put her now empty dish away.

"Are you planning to take your sister?" Mr. McKinnon asked his second youngest daughter. A horrified expression appeared on her adolescent face.

"No…" Marlene answered, using the tone of voice one might use when confessing to murder.

"And why is that?"

"Yeah, why is that?" Joy spoke up. Her sister only just refrained from glaring at her.

"Because I don't want her to come," explained Marlene, except it turned out sounding like a question.

"Again, why?" Joy asked, with a smug little smirk on her face. She could obviously see where this was going.

"Because you're a brat!" Marlene unintentionally shouted. She lost her temper, unfortunately, and her sister's smirk broadened.

"Marlene!" her mother admonished.

"Look, I'm sorry, but can I not take her? Please?" Marlene begged, losing every grain of dignity she had ever had.

"Well, your father had work today, and I'm going to see your sister and help her take care of Lucas," Mrs. McKinnon said, with a regretful tone.

Marlene groaned. "So _I_ have to take her?"

"Yes," Her mother said carefully.

Marlene banged her head on the table while Joy cheered.

"Well, I'll go get ready!" She said happily, and a little to smugly, in Marlene's opinion. Joy strutted (that really was the only word for it) gleefully out of the room.

"C'mon, girls," Marlene said, defeated, getting up out of her seat. She motioned for her friends to follow her as she walked out of the room. They obliged without argument. Conveniently, they all missed Mrs. McKinnon's sigh at her daughters' relationship.

Once they were safely inside her bedroom, Marlene groaned loudly and flopped onto her bed resignedly.

"It's not that bad, Mar," Lily comforted, sitting down next to her friend on the bed.

"Yes, it is! She's the devil's reincarnate," Marlene moaned. Lily felt a twinge of annoyance. She could was willing to bet her own sister was much worse. Marlene and Joy's feud was just a little spat compared to Lily and Petunia's fight. But Lily immediately squashed those feelings – it was incredibly selfish of her to be thinking about her own problems while Marlene was upset.

"We're not bothered by it, don't worry, Mar," Dorcas said softly, figuring out the root of the conflict.

"You're not?" Marlene asked hopefully, though the question was muffled by the pillow in her mouth.

"Of course not!" Dorcas chuckled. She knew Marlene best, it seemed, because she sat up on the bed in a crossed legged position.

"Thanks, Dor," she said, laughing slightly.

"Now, let's go get dressed," Mary said cheerfully, not-so subtly trying to get everyone to do something. Marlene nodded.

"Yeah, I'm sure Lily wants to look great incase her newest boy toy is there," she joked. Lily only just suppressed the impulse to slap her across the face.

Instead, she just settled for a couple muttered words about 'bipolar friends' and 'damned letters'.

By noon that day, they were all ready to go to Diagon Alley.

They were in the living room and Marlene was holding a bag of Floo powder in her hand. She motioned for Joy to go in the fireplace first.

"Why do I have to go first?' She whined. Marlene rolled her eyes.

"Do you wanna go or not?"

Grumbling, Joy said, "Yeah."

"Then be quiet," Marlene commanded, offering the bag of Floo powder to her sister, who took out a handful.

"Diagon Alley!" Joy cried, throwing the powder down into the fireplace. She disappeared with a whoosh of green flames.

"Who's going next?" Marlene asked. Dorcas stepped forward and took a handful of the powder.

"I'll go," she said, stepping into the fireplace. "Diagon Alley!" She yelled as she threw the powder down and disappearing with another whoosh of emerald green flame.

Elodia went next, and then Mary. After Sadie had left, Lily was taking Floo powder out of the bag.

"Diagon Alley!" she commanded when she was in the fireplace. The flames engulfed her and images zoomed past her light of sight, but she was moving too fast to see them clearly. And then, it stopped, and she was wobbling out of the fireplace and onto the bustling streets of Diagon Alley.

She didn't prefer Floo travel, and that was about the only time she had landing somewhat easily, with only a few wobbles. It'd probably never happen again, she figured. Wiping herself clear of soot, Lily looked around for her friends.

It was cheerful day, the streets crowded and loud. The air was filled to the brim with glee and the sounds of happiness coming from families. The sky was a delectable bright blue with fluffy white clouds finding their way in the otherwise clear sky. Kids were running around and parents were laughing, attempting to catch them. Boys were marveling over the newest Quidditch broom and packs of giggling teenage girls were strutting towards Twilfitt and Tatting's. The newest additions to Hogwarts were running around with supply list and excitement written clear on their youthful faces.

Lily failed in her search but, luckily, behind her, Marlene had just gotten out of the fireplace and cleaning soot off her person.

"Alright," said Marlene once she was clean again, "Where are the other gits?"

"I don't know," Lily confessed, searching the street once more. Suddenly, someone grabbed her wrist. About to shriek loudly on instinct, Lily turned around and her scream was muffled in a tight hug.

"Lily!" The hugger exclaimed. Lily recognized her voice immediately. It belonged to Alice Prewett, a friend of hers a year above her in Gryffindor.

"Alice!" Lily cried, hugging her friend tighter. Alice let go to hug Marlene.

"What are you doing here?" Marlene asked her.

"Most likely for the same reason you are," Alice replied, pulling out of Marlene's hug and leading the girls down on the street.

"Oh – yeah. So, I didn't get any letters from you! I don't know anything that's going on in your life right now, Allie!" Marlene whined dramatically. Lily and Alice shared a grin at their friend's antics.

"Well, I made Head Girl, so that's good, right?" Alice said as nonchalantly as possible. Marlene and Lily were not fooled, though. They knew how much Alice had wanted the job and congratulated her without missing a beat.

"And how are things with Frank?" Marlene asked suggestively, nudging Alice with her elbow.

Blushing prettily, Alice confessed, "Perfect."

"Oh, you're a sap," Lily said, laughing. Alice glared at her, but it failed to be intimidating due to her blush.

"When you fall in love, Lily," said Alice, putting her arm around her red-headed friend, "You can mock me. For now, you can just be quiet."

"Are you sure she hasn't already?" Marlene questioned with a smirk.

"What'd you mean?" Alice asked, looking between her friends with a bewildered look on her face. "If Lily fell in love without telling me, I'd kill her."

"Wha – What's with all my friends and murderous tendencies?" Lily asked, disgruntled, but she was ignored.

"Well, you see, she's still in the denial phase. She's rather hopeless, actually," Marlene explained importantly.

"I resent that," Lily said.

Ignoring Lily, Alice said, "I figured as much. She's much too stubborn too be in love."

Lily made an affronted noise that was once again disregarded.

"Don't you wanna know who the lucky guy is?" Marlene asked.

"Who is it?"

"James Potter."

"Really? I could've guessed that one."

"Look," Lily said, louder so there was no chance of anyone talking over her, "I honestly don't fancy him – let alone love him – so you too can stop right there."

Marlene scoffed, "You're-"

They'd never know what Marlene was planning to finish her accusation with, however, because she was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Lily! Mar!" she called. The trio turned to see Dorcas, Elodia, Sadie, and Mary jogging towards them.

"Oh! Dor!We've been looking all over for you!" Marlene cried.

"Really? Where did you look?" Dorcas asked, slightly reproachful.

"The pavement and…the pavement…" Marlene trailed off sheepishly. Dorcas laughed. Then, Mary noticed Alice.

"Hullo, Alice!" Mary exclaimed, going in for a hug.

"Just noticed me, did ya?" Alice laughed as she pulled back. The other girls went in to hug Alice as well.

"Shopping for next year, too, are you?" Elodia asked. Alice grinned.

"I thought that'd be obvious, Elle."

"Well – you never know-"

Marlene looked around. "Hey, wait a second, where's Joy?"

"Oh, she in Florean Fortescue's – gaining weight, I suspect," Sadie said with a slight chuckle.

"Smart girl," Lily commented.

"Well, we should be going – my mum will kill me discovers that I left her alone. I don't know why, though, I mean, she's 14," Marlene said, looking in the direction of the ice cream parlor her sister had found herself inside.

"Oh, alright, I'll see you guys September 1st!" Alice beamed at them, waved, and then turned off towards Potage's Cauldron Shop.

"I can't believe you let my sister alone – would you leave Satan on his own?" Marlene asked reproachfully as she started on her way to the parlor.

Dorcas, smirking, said, "That depends."

The girls walked into the busy store of Florean Fortescue. It only took them a few seconds to find the familiar blonde head of Marlene's sister. To their shock, she was sitting flirtatiously with a boy who looked her age and had a head of short brown hair.

"Should we do something about that?" Sadie asked. Marlene grinned evilly. The rest of her friends exchanged looks.

"I do not like the look of that," Lily stated warily, referring to the clearly malevolent smile that now adorned her blonde friend's face.

"Me neither," Mary agreed, frantically nodding her head. Marlene started stalking off towards the couple. Only Dorcas and Elodia followed willingly.

"I feel like we need to moderate what's about to happen," Lily said, now wearing a nervous grin.

"I think you're right, Lil," Sadie said, and the left behind trio made their way over to their other friends.

"Oh, hello, Joy," Marlene greeted in an overly-sweet voice. Her sister looked murderous instantly.

"Marlene," she greeted in a deadly calm tone. Lily had to give her props – even she was a little scared. "What…are you…doing here?" Everybody present could tell that were many more words Joy had wanted to add into that question.

"I can't spend quality time with my favorite sister?" Marlene asked innocently.

"Well, sure, if you had a death wish of sorts," Joy remarked somewhat maliciously. The boy with her looked vaguely impressed… and frightened.

Disregarding this, Marlene went on. "So, tell me, what's going on in your life, Joy? I feel like I don't know you anymore."

"You never knew me. This is no time to start."

"Nonsense!" Marlene exclaimed, settling in right next to her sister. The look on Joy's face would've been enough to cower Godric Gryffindor. Lily decided that this was the perfect time to start helping the poor kid out.

"Marlene, how about we go get some ice cream and our _own_ table?" Lily asked way too innocently. Joy gave her a grateful look while Marlene looked utterly scandalized.

"That's a great idea," Sadie said agreed, also with a tone of complete innocence that fooled no one. Grabbing Marlene's wrist, Lily lifted her up from the table and lead her away. She tried to go to the counter so they could order, but she crashed right into someone.

This person, male by the looks of it, dropped his ice cream to the floor when she slammed into him.

"Oh! Sorry! I'll buy you another, if you like! I'm so sorry!" Lily apologized profusely. The boy shook his head and vanished the mess.

"It's alright, really," he said and Lily finally stopped saying sorry long enough to look up at him.

He looked familiar, like she had seen his face before but not long enough to be able to place it. He was around her age so she assumed she knew him from Hogwarts. He had gorgeously shaggy, light golden brown hair. His eyes were the same mint green as the ice cream that had found it's way to the floor only seconds before and his skin had a slight tan to it that had a way of leaving people breathless.

"Lily Evans, right?" e ahsked. Lily was momentarily blindsided by the fact that he knew her name.

"Uh – yeah –and you're… um…" Lily blushed, embarrassed that he knew her name and she couldn't be bothered to remember his.

"Spencer Young," he said with a flip of that shaggy hair. Now that Lily has a name assigned to him, she could place him much easier. He was a Hufflepuff prefect that was going into his seventh year when term started. They had only interacted on one occasion: they had both been in the library once when two second year girls had been talking too loudly. He had been in his fifth year, so he had been appointed his prefect position at the start of term. Though only he had the authority to do so, Lily had been the one to scold the girls, only seconds before he was about to do so himself.

They had introduced themselves afterwards and talked for a little while, but after that they hadn't really been in each other's way.

"Oh, yeah, I remember you! You look different from when you were 15," Lily laughed.

"Good different?"

Lily made a point of running her eyes down the length of his body and then smiling slyly. "Definitely."

Spencer had opened his mouth to say something more but the sound of someone clearing their throat behind Lily stopped him. Only just remembering that her meddling best friends were behind her, Lily turned around warily to see Marlene staring at her with a smirk fresh at her lips. Lily had to repress a groan.

"Oh, Evans, we should get going," Marlene sing-songed, not-so subtly implying an interrogation later.

"Right… I'll guess I'll see you around, Spencer," Lily said, and, once again, Spencer opened his mouth to speak, but Marlene had already pulled Lily out of the store by then, with only a motion to the rest of the girls to indicate their location.

"Have you already gotten over James?" she asked once she had dragged Lily behind a store.

"Are you going to murder me back here or something?" Lily countered warily, looking around at their surroundings.

"No! Lily – you were just flirting with pretty boy back there! What do you have to say for yourself?"

Lil blushed and turned away from her demanding friend. "…Shut up."

* * *

The entire summer had been nothing more than an irritation to Regulus.

His goal was to escape his mother's clutches, but he never achieved such a feat. Walburga Black had gone on a rampage after her heir left their home for good. She had taken it upon herself to make sure that her second born son would not turn out even remotely similar to her first.

She had barely left him a moment alone, and when they were together, she talked of nothing other than her political views. If you could call wanting a certain part of the magical community exterminated politics, that is.

In fact, to further prove her point, the second Sirius had left the threshold; he had been blasted off the family tree – disowned, just like that. She refused to waste her time and thoughts on her ruined child – well, unless she was bashing him. She had plenty of time for that.

As if trying to buy him on their side, both Walburga and Orion started spoiling Regulus rotten. But Regulus didn't need spoiling – he knew his place. Now that Sirius had left, he'd be trapped forever to do what he's been meant to do from the beginning. Things always seemed to turn out that way – when Sirius got into Gryffindor, Regulus had no choice but then to go into Slytherin. And now, because Sirius was actively opposing the Dark Lord, he had to be actively aiding him.

Nonetheless, sometimes Regulus didn't _want_ to do what he was supposed to do. It wasn't fair that because his brother had gone astray he had to stay on track. Because, if left to contemplate, Regulus could find major flaws with the Dark Lord's views. But, no, he had no choice in the matter – he was going to become a Death Eater because his surname called for it. And you could be damn sure he wasn't going to be happy about it.

The summer had left him quiet. Anyone with the eyes to see would've been able to notice the changes in his demeanor. His grey eyes held a guarded look and he now walked in a closed-off way – as if to ward off all human contact. To all those watching, he seemed like an embittered introvert.

Presently, Regulus was at King's Cross Station, on Platform 9 ¾. His mother, of course, had not stopped blabbering about 'filthy Muggles' and his father just grunted, looking annoyed and moody. Much like an overgrown teenager, if one was being honest.

Quite suddenly, Regulus' eyes were attracted to sight of his brother and his best friend…Potter. They were chatting away happily with Potter's parents, seeming as if they had no problems in the world. Both boys were grinning widely and Mr. and Mrs. Potter sported similar smiles. And then Mrs. Potter pulled them in for a hug and Regulus had to look way in fear of getting sick.

Yes, getting sick. That's what it was.

It _couldn't possibly_ have been because he didn't want to see his brother perfectly happy, as if the Potters were the only family he'd ever known. It _wasn't_ as if Regulus couldn't bare the pain of seeing his brother forget all about him. It _definitely_ wasn't because he didn't want to see his brother fit in perfectly with another family, because he didn't need – or want – his own anymore.

It wasn't.

Honestly.

A harsh scowl now adorning his handsome face, Regulus exchanged empty goodbyes with his parents and boarded the scarlet train. He was sorely tempted to just get into a compartment on his own, but he knew he had a reputation to keep up. Not many in his house would trust him if he didn't keep up appearances. And trust, if you didn't already realize it, was an important thing in the Slytherin house.

They usually chose a compartment somewhere in the back car and, so, Regulus made his way there. Before he arrived, though, he very nearly slammed straight into someone.

Raising his eyes, Regulus was surprised to see an exact copy of his own stormy grey eyes reflected back at him. In fact, he and this person looked immensely similar – the biggest difference was the way their hair was cut. This male, who was still as of yet unidentified, had long dark hair, elegantly cut, while Regulus had short hair, combed back and trimmed impeccably.

This unidentified male was undoubtedly his older brother.

Sirius' eyes were frosty and suddenly guarded – a big difference from moments ago when they were gleeful and laughing. He was looking at his brother with a contempt that made Regulus forget that this was the same boy he had grown up with.

Regulus was grateful he knew how to mask his emotions or else he would appear to the outsider very weak and vulnerable at the moment.

Sirius shoved past him, knocking his shoulder painfully. Regulus could only focus on one thing and that was masking the hurt he felt at this encounter.

This only proved one thing: there was no hope left for a Regulus and Sirius anymore.

He'd have to be fending for himself from now on. And, he realized, that was much more frightening than he had originally perceived.

* * *

Sirius had just seen his brother. And Regulus looked completely indifferent to him, as if he couldn't care less if he had just dropped dead.

Sirius would be lying if he said that it didn't pain him at least a little. Because it did – so much.

In the moment, he had schooled his own features to resemble something hostile, but now that he was no longer in the situation, anyone could see that he was sulking.

He stalked back to the compartment that he and James had claimed six years ago today, where James, Remus, and Peter were already stationed. When he entered the cheerful compartment, the tension grew from nonexistent into extreme.

James was up in an instant.

"What's happened?" he asked as Sirius slide the door closed behind him.

"I saw Regulus," Sirius explained moodily, taking a seat. Unbeknownst to him, his best friends exchanged looks. They recognized his actions and face – he was looking precariously close to entering one of his Moods, much like the one he was at the end of August.

It had been a difficult feat for them to get the old Sirius back.

They had to keep him occupied at all times of the day, right down to the very last second. They were always playing some kind of game to keep his spirits up and it had worked, mostly.

All of their work for the summer would be tarnished if they let him brood on this meeting. It was best to let him talk about it and then make sure he had no time left to think about it.

"What… What happened?" Remus asked tentatively, him being the Marauder with the most tact.

Sirius stuck him with a dark look – he wasn't completely stupid, after all. He had noticed what they had been trying to do all summer, of course, and the only reason he let it happen was because he didn't _want_ to think about. But how can you not think of your problems?

In spite of himself, Sirius answered, albeit grudgingly. "He was… completely indifferent. It's as if my leaving hasn't affected him at all. He's just continuing on with his life as if he had never had a brother!"

Sirius made no attempt to cover up his feelings on this recent turn of events. James, Remus, and Peter were his best friends – they'd never care about his weaknesses.

"Well, how d'you know?" Peter asked hesitantly.

Sirius glared, "Because of the way he was acting!"

"But he didn't _say_ it."

"Actions speak louder than words."

"How do you feel about this?" James asked Sirius, forcefully reminding the sulking boy of a shrink talking to one of their mad patients.

"Bad, obviously," Sirius near-growled. In any other situation, his friends would've laughed about his animal side showing.

"Do you want us to hex him?" James asked serenely, as if he was asking about the weather or something else equally lackluster. Remus glared at him; it wasn't exactly the perfect situation.

"No," Sirius refused, "I may not like him, but he's still my brother."

After this statement, there was something of a silence. One's love for their family never vanishes, as it was apparent in this situation. No matter when Regulus did, Sirius would still care about him.

Breaking the silence and not-so subtly attempting to lighten the mood, Peter jumped up with an excited look on his face. "I say we play some chess! I think I'm finally good enough to beat Remus' prefect arse!"

Remus glared but he looked uncharacteristically cocky as he said his next statement, "Please, you couldn't beat me last year; what makes you think you beat me now?"

"Well, I can beat James-" At this, an indignant noise came from James and, unexpectedly, a snort from Sirius.

"Anyone can beat James. And while we're on the subject, I'm pretty sure I can beat Remus too," he said confidently, reminiscent of the carefree Sirius they were more accustomed to. It seemed as if he wanted to forget as well. Attempting to keep the flow, Remus defiantly puffed out his chess.

"I'm better than all of you in chess – especially James," Remus started, causing James to cross his arms with a huff. "It's not much of an accomplishment if you can beat James."

"I'll have you know," said James matter-of-factly, making his first attempt at defending his chess abilities. "I'm better than all of you at Quidditch. That should count for something."

"Hush, Specky," Sirius retorted with a wry grin, "The big boys are talking."

James just grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like 'why do I even hang around these idiots?'

* * *

That morning, the girls had made their way to King's Cross together.

Currently, they had split up into the three separate groups that they usually fared in: Marlene and Dorcas, Elodia and Sadie, and Lily and Mary. As far as Lily knew, Elodia and Sadie with their friends in Ravenclaw, namely Amelia Bones, Emmeline Vance, and Hestia Jones.

Marlene and Dorcas were Merlin knows where and Lily and Mary were in the compartment they had all secured together at the beginning of the day, just chatting amiably. They were close enough that nothing could be going on and they could just sit and talk for hours straight, not getting bored at all.

"Lily, I'm telling you, just get over The Beatles already! The Bay City Rollers are the new thing!" Mary was saying. They were having an argument over which Muggle band was the best.

"The Bay City Rollers? _Please_. Elton John would be my next choice – or, actually, The Stylistics are pretty great. Their new song – um, what's it called? – oh yeah – 'I Can't Give You Anything' is amazing. I love it," Lily argued stubbornly. Mary rolled her eyes.

"Um, 'Bye, Bye Baby'? You d'you make of that?"

"While I'll admit that was a good song-" Lily started to make a statement that without a doubt would've been a flimsy argument to her point, but we'll never know for sure because at that moment, the compartment door slide open to reveal Marlene McKinnon, Dorcas Meadows, and Remus Lupin.

The two girls bounced into the compartment, laughing about some inside joke that they shared, grins fresh on their faces. It was only in these kinds of moments that you could see, despite their differences, why they were best friends.

Remus stayed at the door, a small smile gracing his scarred features, making him appear more handsome than usual.

"Um, Lily, the prefect meeting?" he asked her amusedly and she shot up, not believing she forgot about the mandatory prefect meeting held at every train ride on September 1st.

"Oh! I'll see you guys later, Mare, Mar, Dor," Lily said as she fastened her prefect badge onto her chest and walked out the compartment, Remus following her, still with his amused expression.

Marlene reached into her pockets and retrieved a Pumpkin Pasty. "So what were you guys talking about?"

"Muggle bands," was the lazy reply from the girl who was flipping her strawberry blond hair out of her face.

Doracs, as she lounged across from them, said, "It's funny. Muggles are beating us so hard when it comes to music, yet we have blood purist talking rubbish about them nonstop. Hey, d'ya think they listen to Muggle music?"

Marlene snorted, "Obviously not, or we wouldn't be having this problem."

"Oh, yes, all of our problems can be solved by listening to music," Mary drawled dryly.

"You never know," said Marlene nonchalantly.

"We should totally do that," Dorcas said suddenly. "Have like an event where everybody listens to Muggle music and then realizes that if they have good music, they can't be all bad."

"I feel like your logic is all misplaced," Mary commented wryly.

"No, I think Dor's just had a stroke of genius. We can apply that concept to anything," Marlene said, looking as if ideas were forming in her head.

"Guys, I think we should just stop with this idea right now." Mary looked between her friends warily, as if expecting either of them to spontaneously transform into a monster and devour her whole.

"Yeah, I think you're right," Marlene relented easily.

"It was good while it lasted," said Dorcas.

"Yeah, not really," Mary rolled her eyes, leaning back in her seat. Marlene rested her head in her lap.

"Mar?"

"Yes?"

"Do you mind?"

"No."

"Mar?"

"Yes?"

"Get your bloody fat head out of my lap, please."

"I don't really feel like it, so I'm not gonna do that."

"Mar?"

"Yes?"

"I hate you."

"Love you too, Mare."

Dorcas laughed at her two friends, enjoying the fact that no one was sitting neat her so she didn't have to mind where she put her head. Or well, that was before the compartment door slide open to reveal two of her other friends.

Elodia and Sadie looked slightly flushed and Elodia was leaning against the blonde girl, laughing so hard she couldn't stand straight.

Casually, Dorcas raised an eyebrow.

"Can we help you?" she asked. Elodia stuck her tongue out at her.

"Yes, actually, Dor, stop being rude." Elodia purposefully sat down right next to Dorcas's head. Dorcas pulled an appalled face and sat up to give her friend more room.

"Think you're funny, do ya?" Dorcas asked with narrowed eyes and crossed arms.

"Um, yeah." All the other girls laughed at the disgruntled look on Dorcas' face and Sadie left the door way in favor of Marlene's legs.

"You're bloody fat; get the hell off me," Marlene instantly whined. In retaliation, Sadie wiggled a little, trying to push more weight on her friend's legs. Marlene groaned.

"Yet you're on my lap," Mary observed.

"Cow." Marlene sat up to look at both of her traitor friends. "You're both cows."

"So where were you guys?" Dorcas asked, directing the attention towards Elodia and Sadie.

"With Amelia, Emmeline, Hestia, and Benjy," Sadie replied.

"And, let me tell you, the summer sure was great to Fenwick," Elodia said with a smirk and slightly dreamy look in her eyes. Her friends exchanged looks – would Benjy Fenwick be Elodia's newest love interest this year?

"Are you going to do anything bad to him? Like – I don't know – date him?" Marlene asked warily. Dorcas snorted and Sadie failed miserably to hind her amusement.

"Maybe." Elodia's smirk grew impossibly broader.

"Wait, I need to see him first – can't have you dating without my consent, can we?" Mary said, completely serious.

"Heaven forbid," Elodia said dryly, rolling her eyes.

"Was that sarcasm?"

"Um, yes."

"Um, why?"

"Well, maybe I really like him time and I don't need you interfering, you wench," Elodia said jokingly, but anyone could sense her underlying tone of seriousness.

"You've only seen what he looks like," Sadie pointed out.

"I've been friends with him for years," Elodia countered.

"Okay – Benjy Fenwick: off limits. No matter how hot he's become over the summer holidays," Mary dictated assertively.

"Good." Elodia leaned back, as if satisfied, and she probably was.

"Hey, where's Lily?" Sadie asked after a couple moments of silence.

"Prefect meeting," Marlene answered.

"Shouldn't that be over soon?" Dorcas asked confusedly.

"Uh, yeah, I think so," Sadie confirmed, looking around, as if Lily would just appear out of thin air.

Then, the compartment door slid open to reveal the lunch trolley and the lady manning it.

"Anything from the trolley, dears?" She asked. Marlene and Dorcas shot up immediately, galleons at the ready, and started to pick out sweets from the trolley. They each bought one of each and went back to their seats to dump their food unceremoniously on their friends.

"Merlin, sometimes I wonder why we still hang around with these idiots," Mary grumbled from beneath the candy that had just landed on her sweets.

"'Cause we're cool," Dorcas said, having heard the remark. It was ruined slightly by the fact that she had he mouth full when she had spoken.

"With a capital 'c'," Marlene added, with a similarly full mouth.

"Oh yes, you are the very _epitome_ of cool," Elodia said dryly. Dorcas just gave her the thumbs-up.

The rest of the girls helped themselves to the food, albeit with much more manners that their friends had displayed. And, in no time, Remus Lupin and Lily Evans were back at the door, causally sliding it open.

"I'm returning her to you," Remus greeted. The girls laughed. "Good luck – she's a hassle."

At this Lily glared but, unperturbed, Elodia said, "Yeah, we know. That's why we dumped her on you."

"Oh, okay, nice to know I'm being used," he said dryly. "Well, goodbye, I have to go make sure my friends aren't killing themselves," he said cheerfully.

All the girls relayed their own goodbyes before they were alone once again.

"Damn," Dorcas remarked from her spot in between Elodia and Lily after a few moments of comfortable silence. "It's crowded in here."

* * *

Hogsmeade was dark. Somehow, the town managed to be beautiful at all times of the day and year. On the humid summer night that the Hogwarts now-in-robes students returned to school, the town was shining under the almost-new moon. The Hogwarts School could be seen in the distance, over the lake. It was magnificent and intimidating to even the most daring of 11 year olds on the anything-but monochrome dark night. As students descended the gleaming scarlet train named the Hogwarts Express and onto the Hogsmeade station, they all took the time to admire the school that dubbed as a home for all of them.

They were back. They were back home.

And the moment was gone as quickly as it came when the students became impatient in the humidity of the uncomfortably dry night. The Marauders (minus Sirius) were trying their hardest to get to a carriage in the large crowd. And they had done rather well, only Peter leaving with a slight scratch from the large nails of some slaggy fifth year.

Once they were in the settled in one of the carriages that pulled themselves, they started up their previous conversation from where they had left off.

"We're sixth years, now," James was saying, "We're practically the oldest."

"Except we're not," Remus pointed out. James glared at his sandy-haired friend.

"Thanks for that, Moony, I really appreciate it."

Remus' retort was drowned out by the sound of someone letting themselves into their carriage.

"Oh, hello," she said.

"Hullo, Marls," James greeted, patting the seat next to him.

"Marlene," Remus and Peter acknowledged.

"James, Remus, Peter. Where's the other bloke?" Marlene asked, looking around. It was only on a rare occasion that anyone would see the Marauders separated, after all.

"He's…" Remus trailed off, discovering that he actually didn't know. "…Somewhere."

"Um… You know, Prongs?" Peter spoke up.

"I think he's breaking up with June Bryant."

"Why is he breaking up with June Bryant?" Remus asked, bewildered. "They were getting on great last year."

"Yeah, but he didn't write her once over the holiday and heard that she was gonna break up with him so he did it first."

"Why didn't he write her?" Peter asked confusedly.

"_I don't know_!" James exclaimed, exasperated.

Marlene chuckled slightly, reminding the boys she was still there. "I see you all haven't changed," she commented mildly.

"What'd you expect?" Peter asked wryly.

"Nothing less, actually," said Marlene, slightly wistfully.

"So where's your lot?" James asked his Quidditch teammate.

"This is coming from the guy whose friends are called the Marauders."

"I noticed," James said with a rather cheeky grin.

"Don't get cheeky with me," Marlene scolded. "And if you're still wondering, Elodia and Sadie are with the Ravenclaws, most likely. Lily and Mary are probably with Dorcas doing Merlin knows what."

"You are really on top of things – I admire that," Remus remarked dryly. Marlene glared at him.

"Where's Black again?" Marlene question was met with silence and she smirked. "That's what I thought."

"In my defense, I actually knew where Pa-Sirius was. Just sayin'," James commented, as if that fixed every problem on the planet.

"That's because you two are uncomfortably close. The four of you are, really. It's almost disturbing," Marlene said frankly.

"Well, at least it's not _really_ disturbing," Peter quipped.

This laid-back banter between the four carried for the entire carriage ride and, soon enough, they were entering Hogwarts.

In the Entrance Hall, they had met up with Marlene's 'lot'.

Lily, Dorcas, Mary, Elodia, and Sadie had been in a carriage together, it seemed. They were holding a rather humorous conversation from the looks of it. Elodia was laughing on the also-laughing Sadie's shoulder, Dorcas was grinning, Mary was smirking, and Lily looked exasperated.

"Oi!" Marlene called out to them. They turned around and instantly started off towards them.

"Le Le!" Dorcas yelled back annoyingly, her snarky grin never once leaving her face. Marlene glared and the missing-one Marauders behind her snorted.

"'Le Le'? I must say, it suits you, Marls," James said and Marlene's hand visibly twitched towards the wand in her robe's pocket.

She settled for just smacking him over the head.

"What he do now?" Lily asked, as she had just reached them when Marlene hit James.

"Nothing. I've always been perfectly innocent." Everyone snorted at James reply, because it was obviously not true.

"Hey, where's Black?" Mary asked the Marauders.

"Breaking up with June Bryant," was the reply that came from all of them at once.

At Mary's quizzical brow, James continued.

"Long story. Basically he didn't write her and now he has to break up with her before she broke up with him," he explained. Mary nodded, understanding.

"But why didn't he write her?" Dorcas asked, puzzled. "They were fine last year."

"I don't know what goes on in his head," replied James.

"Does anyone?" Remus asked amusedly.

"No, not really," James answered thoughtfully.

"We should just stop trying to understand him," Peter said. "He's too bipolar for that."

Unexpectedly (not that anyone would expect it), a finger tapped on Peter's shoulder. He flinched violently, turning around in seconds to see the culprit.

"Who you talking 'bout?" he asked casually. He friends feigned innocent looks while the girls tried desperately to hold in their laughter.

"No one, no one at all," Remus refused, being the best actor out of his friends and not trusting Peter or James to speak.

Sirius looked at them suspiciously, he did, after all, know his friends' innocent looks well. "…Alright…"

James, quick to change the subject, said, "How'd it go?"

"Well. I mean, I didn't get hexed so, that's good, right?" Sirius answered. Marlene snorted.

"If that's what you're going on," she said wryly. He scowled at her.

"McKinnon, be quiet," he scolded. She smirked but obliged. They walked into the Great Hall, mutually deciding to sit with each other as they made their way to the end of the table.

"Why can't we just eat now?" Dorcas whined. Peter and Sirius nodded fervently.

"Did you not just eat like the entire food trolley?" Mary asked.

"You can't expect me to rely on just that for an entire day," Dorcas complained. "I need meat."

"It's a wonder she's not morbidly obese or something," Lily said with mock grimness.

"It truly is," Sadie said, also grim.

They sat like that for a couple minutes, just chatting and joking amiably with each other before McGonagall lead the newest students into the Great Hall to be sorted and they all quieted.

She walked briskly and intimidatingly, surely not helping the single file line of cowering first years one bit. She looked stern, but then again, she always looked stern. Once the line was at the front of the hall, she placed a four-legged stool down in front of the first years. On top of the stool, she placed a battered and dirty looking hat, something the older students recognized as the Sorting Hat.

To the first years' utter surprise, a rip near the brim of the hat opened up and the hat begun to sing the song he had prepared during the year before:

_I do not seem like much,_

_But I am nonesuch,_

_You see, many years past,_

_I was pretty as can be, in contrast._

_I was created by the great four,_

_Slytherin, Gryffindor,_

_Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw,_

_They brought much awe,_

_It was they, you understand,_

_That brought a helping hand,_

_To young sorcerers around the land,_

_No matter how grand._

_But all good things must met their end,_

_And their friendship followed the trend._

_They wanted different things,_

_And trouble begins._

_Gryffindor wanted the bravest,_

_Thought they, by far, were the greatest._

_Slytherin took the purest,_

_Ones with cunning at their fullest._

_Ravenclaw strived for the intelligent,_

_Believed anything else were abhorrent._

_Hufflepuff thought all were well enough,_

_No matter how rough of tough._

_What they never realized,_

_People are not meant to be specialized._

_After all, we are all,_

_From the same morale._

_We are only different,_

_When one of all is reverent._

_So put me on,_

_And be sorted, thereon,_

_We will never change,_

_So do not estrange._

The hat finished and students called, though some paled slightly. These people included Remus and Lily, who had been paying extra attention, and noticed some of the cleverly veiled warnings in the song. Their friends noticed their friends' slight fear, and would've questioned them had McGonagall not started the Sorting.

"Abernathy, Matthew!" the head of Gryffindor house called and the trembling boy unlucky enough to be called without any precedents to follow walked up hesitantly to the stool.

The second the hat was on his head, Lily and Remus turned to each other.

"Did you –"

"– yes –"

"– do you think –"

"– no idea –"

"– have things really –"

"– if that was a –"

Impatient, Sirius waved a hand in front of their faces. He had an annoyed look on his face.

"Are you gonna explain or continue talking in that weird way?" he whispered hotly. Lily only just refrained from glaring at him.

"RAVENCLAW!" The Sorting Hat declared, and the Ravenclaw table exploded into applause.

"That was a warning," Remus started.

"The hat does that?" James asked confusedly.

"Apparently," Remus answered.

"It didn't seem like one, if it was," Dorcas said.

"You had to be listening closely to catch it. 'People are not meant to be specialized' and 'do not estrange'?" Lily explained.

"That-That could mean anything," Sadie said lamely.

"Oh, yes, any ideas, then?" Lily asked rhetorically and she glared at Sadie for trying to dispute their ideas.

"Maybe it's just a song and not some kind of conspiracy, ever thought of that?" suggested Marlene lazily with a raise of her eyebrows.

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat called and they had to cut off their conversation to clap loudly for the girl that had just been sorted into their beloved house.

Lily redirected her glare.

Remus decided to interject before Lily snapped at the girl. "It just seems so… What with the war and all," he said calmly.

The rest of the group seemed to contemplate this.

"I guess you could be right," Elodia said and James nodded.

"Whatever, let's just listen to the Sorting," Sadie suggested. Everyone obliged, though some more reluctantly.

The Sorting ended when 'Yancey, Nieves' was sorted into Slytherin. Dumbledore rose to speak.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! Now – Eat up!" True to their headmaster's words, an abundance of food appeared on all of the empty dishes in the hall.

"Best thing anyone's said all night," Peter commented and Dorcas and Sirius nodded heartily before digging in. The rest of their friends followed suit.

* * *

The Welcoming Feast ended without a hitch. The newest Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Lynch, was introduced, the dessert was great, as always, and there were no more arguments between the seventh year Gryffindors. At the moment, the 5th year Gryffindor prefects were leading their house – though only the first years were paying any attention – but they didn't notice two absences. One of them was Lily Evans.

She had been following the group – right up until nature had made it's call and needed to be answered immediately. After offering her friends a goodbye, she had left them, promising to catch up later.

But something unexpected had happened, because after she had finished responding and left the bathroom, she had crashed straight into someone. Someone familiar.

"Spencer?" she asked.

"Lily?" he responded.

"We keep meeting like thing," Lily commented laughingly.

"Yeah, we should really start meeting more intentionally, you know?" Spencer asked. Lily blushed.

"Yes, I agree." She grinned at him.

"So, I'll see you around, anyways. Hopefully we'll get around to that intentional meeting sometime, yeah?" he said nonchalantly.

"Yeah," Lily said, quite lamely, in her personal opinion. Spencer half saluted, half waved to her before turning away.

"Two for two, eh?" a familiar voice Lily was not prepared to hear said (smugly) behind her and she jumped.

Oh, yes, the _other_ person missing from the Gryffindors making their way to their dorm was Marlene McKinnon.

Lily only just stopped herself from groaning.

"Go to hell please, Mar."

* * *

**A/N: **Oh my gosh, I finally finished this chapter. It's really long (longest I've ever written). I am very proud of myself and I'm planning to start the next chapter tomorrow. So sorry I haven't updated in a month.

It was hard for me to get the girls' personalities perfectly how I wanted them, but I think the characterization turned out well, don't you think?

Do you love it? Reviews please!


	5. The Wonderful Woes of Hogwarts

**Disclaimer: **Characters and world were created by JK Rowling.

**A/N: **If any of you were wondering, I'm still portraying James as immature for the time being. The events with Sirius over the holiday did allow him to mature a bit, but most of it won't be happening until the summer of seventh year. He and Lily are going to be stuck in a phase that's friendly but they aren't _really_ friends.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**The Wonderful Woes of Hogwarts**

The Marauders had a schedule in the morning that they stuck to like a religion.

James always woke first. That was a rule (as contradicting as it may be). He was a morning person, and it didn't take much to get him up. When his alarm clock went off at precisely 6:50, giving them 4o minutes before breakfast began, he was up and in the bathroom in seconds.

At approximately 6:51, Peter threw the closest shoe at James' alarm clock, like every other morning, successfully knocking it off the end-table. James yelled an apology from inside the bathroom and other inhabitants of the sixth year Gryffindor boys' dormitory slept peacefully. For 10 minutes.

Right on schedule (7 o'clock), James trotted out of the bathroom with his most of his morning personal hygiene problems solved. Knowing he would be the easiest to wake up, he headed for the bed of Peter Pettigrew.

"Get up," James commanded, nudging the somewhat pudgy boy. Peter groaned, but he knew the schedule, and made a feeble attempt to get up. James shrugged and decided to wake him up again later as he walked back into the bathroom to take a shower and get dressed.

When James left the bathroom again (7:15), Peter was still lying in his bed, though it was obvious he was awake. Now it was mandatory for Peter get out of his covers, as comfortable as they may be, because Sirius had to be awoken, pronto.

With the predicted groan, Peter – literally – rolled out of bed. He and James stalked over to Sirius' bed, deciding that the easiest way to wake him up would be to push him off the bed. Quick and painless, like ripping off a Band-Aid.

Even though that actually hurt quite a deal.

Being as quiet as possible, they got onto one side of their sleeping-not-for-long best friend and unceremoniously _shoved_ him off of his four-poster.

_Thud_.

A growl could be heard coming from the ground and James and Peter made a point of not being near when Sirius' wrath was unleashed.

"Breakfast starts in 15 minutes, Paddy," said James. It was now his turn to keep his best mate awake while Peter showered.

"I do not give a flying fuck, Prongs," he said vulgarly. He got back up into his bed and James rushed over.

"Look at this, you got me Russian. I'm supposed to be Irish, not Russian!" James exclaimed, in a lame attempt at a joke.

Sirius stopped for a moment. "You didn't."

"I did."

"…That was… That was worse that the 'Sirius, serious' jokes," said Sirius, seriously.

"Yeah, it was," James admitted.

"No, really, that was astounding," Sirius continued. "You've… You've reached another level of dork."

"I've never been a dork."

At this, Sirius laughed out loud. "Yeah, and McGonagall and Dumbledore aren't going out."

James gave him a flat look. "They _aren't_."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say," said Sirius dismissively.

"Mate, I'm like 90% sure Dumbledore is playing for the other team."

"What? No. He's with Minnie."

"No, he's not."

"Yes, he is."

"No."

"Yes."

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No! You just want to see McGonagall in action!"

When Peter walked out of the bathroom, he saw Sirius tackle James to the floor. While he was feeling no small amount of bewildered, he kept a straight face and raised an eyebrow.

"Play fighting? Kinky." Sirius and James looked up from their…occupation…to see Peter trying his hardest not to laugh.

"Shut up," said Sirius, getting up off the floor. From his spot on the floor, James pouted.

"C'mon, Paddy, pick me up." James held out a hand that was grudgingly accepted and was pulled up. He dusted himself off.

"Hurry up in there, Pads, we still have to wake up _him_," said James, emphasizing and pointing dramatically to Remus' bed.

Grumbling, Sirius walked into the bathroom.

"We could just wake him up now," Peter suggested, as he did every morning. James gave him a look.

"Alright, if you really want to waste your time," said James as he rose from his seat on Sirius' bed. Peter followed him over to Remus' bed.

They pushed and yanked and shook but Remus Lupin would not wake, and he would stay that way until the correct time, which was 7:30.

When Sirius left the bathroom, taking longer than anyone else would've, it was 7:25. He dried off his 'perfect' (it was, though) hair with his wand, styling it as he walked out. Right on cue, James and Peter rolled their eyes.

"C'mon, let's go wake up this one," Peter said, and the boys took a place around the place where the prone Remus was sleeping. Peter and Sirius grabbed the mattress and James retrieved his wand from his pocket. In one swift movement, Remus' mattress was on the floor and the boy himself was dripping cold water from the water spell James had performed.

A loud groan could be heard coming from under the blankets and mattress. There was movement and, then, there was a pissed off Remus Lupin glaring at them as he regained control of his duvet.

"Breakfast's just started," James said passively, plopping down on Sirius' bed, as it was the closest.

"I was sleeping."

"You're always sleeping. This happens every morning. You'd think you'd be used to it by now," said James. Remus just scowled at the world as he got up and ventured into the bathroom.

"Don't know what his problem is," Sirius said, attempting to sit on Remus' bed, and then remembering that the mattress was on the floor, sat down on his own four-poster.

Peter snorted. "Uh, you _growled_ when we woke you up."

"Well, the way you wake me up is a little brusque, don't you think?"

This time, both Peter and James snorted.

"Not brusquer than the way we wake up Moony," James smirked.

"At least he still gets his blanket. I wake up on the cold, hard floor."

"Dry," Peter added for him.

"Details, details."

"You didn't have any problems with giving details before," said James.

Sirius looked between his two best friends with a betrayed look on his face. His hand finding its way his chest, he said, "My, what is this? Are – forgive me, Lord – you two ganging up on me?"

"My, what is this? Is – forgive me, Lord – Padfoot being dramatic? Has this even _happened_ before?" James mocked, adopting a comically shocked look.

"Wait – I seem recall this happing at least once before," Peter continued.

"Or twice-"

"Or every day-"

"For the past seven years-"

"I'm _not_ dramatic," Sirius argued, beautifully contradicting himself since his expression was becoming more and more betrayed by the second.

"And I'm _not_ modest," James countered sarcastically. Peter snorted.

"You _aren't_."

"What? You're crazy."

"No, I'm being completely serious right now-"

"But you're Peter. The only person that can be completely Sirius is me," Sirius interrupted. Both James and Peter stopped their argument to sigh loudly.

"Where did we go wrong with that one?" Peter asked James, as if Sirius was not sitting right there.

"Honestly? I don't know."

"You're one to talk," Sirius said indignantly. "Russian," he added to clarify, with an unbearable smirk creeping its way onto his handsome face.

"That was a good joke in context," James defended. At this, Sirius laughed his typical bark-like laugh.

"Don't delude yourself, Jamie," Sirius patronized, patting a hand on James' back.

And James opened his mouth, to no doubt defend his bruised ego, but no words were spoken. Remus walked out of the bathroom then, much less tired and much more refreshed. Now fully dressed, he grabbed his robes and his bag, staring at his friends expectantly.

"Well? Let's go," Remus commanded and his friends got their own robes and bags. They ventured out the door, James, Sirius, and Peter swaggering arrogantly while Remus was modest and mature, though there was an almost imperceptible confidence in his walk.

The Gryffindor Common Room was mostly empty, seeing as all worn armchairs were vacated. Most students were already in the Great Hall for breakfast. Only a few stragglers were lucky enough to see the infamous Marauders strut their way through the room and to the Great Hall, as they did every morning.

* * *

The Gryffindor girls, however, had much simpler mornings. Ironic, considering they were girls and they were said to be the most complicated species to every grace the Earth.

By chance, the earliest to wake was Sadie on most mornings. If not her, it was Marlene, who had never been quite used to the beauty of sleeping in, due to her numerous family members. On this particular September 2nd, Marlene was, in fact, the early bird. This did not bother Marlene one bit, mind you. Being the first to rise in a dormitory full of other needy teenage girls could only be seen as an opening to many, _many_, opportunities.

Seizing her chance hurriedly – for who knew when Sadie would wake? – Marlene jumped up from her bed and was in the bathroom so fast that if anyone had been wake, they would have seen only a blur of blond hair and pink pajamas.

Sadie had awoken not long after, but Marlene, being one of those needy teenage girls mentioned earlier, was still in the bathroom, taking as long as she wished. She was not to be deterred, however, and bounded out of bed to set out her uniform, ready to sprint into the bathroom at the closest opportunity.

Poor Marlene hadn't even been granted the time to step out the door before Sadie was inside and closing it. Laughing quietly at her friend's insolence, Marlene, now fully dressed, stepped to the vanity to start on her hair and makeup.

At this point, Dorcas had woken up, because she was the lightest sleeper of the girls still stuck in their subconscious.

"G'morning, Le Le," she greeted groggily, reluctantly leaving the warmth and safety of her scarlet colored duvet.

"Stop calling me that, Dor," Marlene said exasperatedly.

"It's too early for that kind of negativity, Mar," Dorcas says, yawning as if to prove her point.

"It's too early for that kind of bullshit, Dor," retorted Marlene as she started to curl her usually pin straight hair.

"There's a specific 'kind' of bullshit?"

"Fuck you," Marlene said simply, scowling, most likely because she couldn't find anything clever to reply with.

"You're hair looks nice," Dorcas said, completely scraping their previous conversation without warning.

"I know," Marlene smirked.

"That was a compliment. You see, we say 'thank you' to compliments," Dorcas said slowly, like Marlene was helplessly stupid. "Let's try it again – you're hair looks nice."

"I know," Marlene replied just to spite her best friend. Dorcas glared.

"I _will_ hurt you, you know," she countered, despite moving over to play with Marlene's hair.

"So, who's in the shower?" Dorcas asked after a few minutes.

"Sadie."

"Damn. She wakes up _way_ to early."

"I was up earlier than her."

"What? One holiday with your family and you come back completely corrupted." Dorcas clicked her teeth.

"It's sad, isn't it?"

"It causes only the deepest depths of despair."

"…That doesn't really make sense."

"Just go with it. We can't be eloquent _all_ the time."

"True that."

"Besides – we can just kill anyone who points it out."

"What do you the Killing Curse was originally for?"

"For killing people who point out flaws. Obviously."

"They are simply the _worst_ sort of people."

Suddenly, there was movement coming from the bed than a certain redhead slept in. "That is one _interesting_ conversation you're carrying there," Lily said, getting out of bed.

"Damn straight," said Dorcas, without missing a beat.

"Who's in the shower?" Lily asked.

"Sadie," Marlene answered dully.

Lily groaned. "Screw that."

"My feelings exactly," Dorcas agreed. One might suppose they had spoken too soon, because, at that moment, a now much cleaner Sadie marched out of the bathroom.

Swooping down on this chance like a vulture, Dorcas had only spared Lily a fierce look before darting off into the now-vacated bathroom. Lily fell down on the closest bed – Sadie's – grumpily.

"I feel betrayed." She was ignored in her complaints, though, because Marlene and Sadie were having their routine fight over the vanity.

"You've had it the entire time I was in the shower!" Sadie was arguing.

"My hair is more important than yours," Marlene stated simply, unmoved and still primping her hair.

"How?!"

"It's on my head, therefore it is more valuable."

"You are so full of yourself – it's not even funny anymore."

Lily sighed loudly. "Marlene, let Sadie use the mirror. She's right, anyways," she said, entirely apathetic to the situation.

Marlene groaned but moved anyway. Sadie, happy because she had gotten her way, started working on her hair.

"What should I do with my hair today?" She asked the room.

"Straighten it," Marlene suggested.

"Why?"

"Because I curled mine."

"What if I wanted to curl my hair?"

"Tough luck."

"Well, I'm curling my hair."

"Must you do everything to contradict me?"

"Yes," Sadie replied before magically drying her hair and curling it.

"Ah, I missed being able to use magic all the time," she stated once she was finished. Lily, from her half-asleep state on Sadie's bed, grunted.

"At least you would have a way of covering it up."

Sadie seemed to mull this over in her head. "Yeah, true." Lily snorted, looking at the clock. Upon seeing that it was 7:30, she groaned.

"Why isn't Dorcas out of the shower yet?"

"I don't know. I'm not in there," said Marlene unnecessarily. Lily glared at her.

"Marlene, don't talk," she commanded, falling bad on Sadie's bed tiredly. With a yawn, she groaned again. Sadie snorted as she started to put on her makeup.

"You sure are patient," said Sadie.

"Did I ask you if I was patient? Yeah, I didn't think so either," Lily scowled.

"Well, you're just a ball of sunshine in the morning," Marlene commented dryly.

"Was anybody talking to _you_?" Lily asked pointedly.

"I'm in the room. I have a right to add to the conversation if I want to."

"Says who?"

"Me."

"Do you have the authority?"

"Um. Yes."

"Says who?"

"_Me_. Godric, Lily, do you even _listen_?"

"I'm sorry," Sadie put in after she recovered from her silent hysterics. "This is hilarious."

Marlene, being Marlene, flipped her hair appreciatively and said, "Well, I'm Marlene McKinnon. I'm naturally funny and gorgeous. A bit of a catch, really."

Lily burst into laughter at this.

"What?" Marlene demanded.

"It's… nothing… just…" Lily stopped laughing long enough to look up at Marlene before she burst into hilarity once again. She did actually stop, though, when a pillow was thrown at her.

A groan could be heard coming from one of the still occupied four-posters. "Shut up, Lily, I'm trying to _sleep_."

"Quite frankly, Mary, I don't care," Lily responded, talking to the mass of covers on her best friend's bed.

"Such compassion," Marlene stated dryly. Mary rolled over with another over exaggerated whimper.

Choosing to ignore both of her friends, Lily walked over to the bathroom door and started pounding loudly.

"DORCAS MEADOWES, IF YOU DON'T OPEN THIS DOOR IN THE NEXT FIVE MINUTES, I WILL CLAW YOUR EYES OUT!" She shouted, effectively waking up Elodia.

"SHUT THE BLOODY HELL UP, LILY!" Elodia yelled, burying herself further in her covers.

Marlene and Sadie, if you hadn't already realized, were taking immense amusement from the morning's events.

_Finally_, Dorcas left the bathroom, hair wet and extra frizzy. Lily could've wept with joy, but she didn't, because it would've taken much too long. Using a more productive course of action, Lily sprinted off into the bathroom, slamming the door with finality.

"Good riddance," Elodia said before falling back asleep with amazing grace. Mary stared in awe.

"How does she do that?"

"Don't know, don't care," Dorcas said as she shoved Sadie out of the way of the vanity. "Wanna know what I do care about? My hair. What should I do with it?"

"Straighten," Marlene suggested.

"Because you have curly?"

"Yup." To Sadie's surprise, Dorcas grinned and nodded before pulling out her wand.

When she saw Sadie's look, Marlene said, "Sadie, take notes."

"Whatever," said Sadie as she rolled her eyes.

Giving up on all pretenses of sleep, Mary got out of her bed with a loud yawn.

"Oh, look, guys, its Mary's tonsils," Sadie commented. Mary scowled.

"Oh, look, guys, its Sadie's guts," she retorted. Her friend's exchanged bemused looks.

"What?"

Mary opened her mouth to, most likely, argue passionately, but she seemed to lose her will. With a wave of a dismissive hand, she said, "I don't even know anymore."

"Exactly, which why you shouldn't ever try to outwit me," said Sadie who lifted her nose into the air pompously.

"Yeah, whatever." Mary rolled her eyes, yawning again.

"Wake Elodia up, breakfast's already started and I am so hungry," Marlene commanded.

"Then go down to breakfast," Mary told her.

"I was trying to be a loyal friend but alright," Marlene said before grabbing her robes and her bag. Dorcas and Sadie did the same and they left the dormitory together.

"I didn't mean for you to do it," Mary said to the door, as Marlene had already left from it. "Some friend you are."

Elodia had still not come out of her unconscious state, so now Mary would be left with the burdening job to wake her up. And it'll be as easy as waking up the dead. Realizing her fate, Mary grumbled deprecatingly before walking over to her basically deceased friend.

"Elle, wake up right now," she commanded weakly. Of course, Elodia did not stir. "Elodia, wake up." The girl did not move, still. "Elodia Porterfield, if you do not wake up, there will serious consequences." Because Elodia refused to wake, Mary was forced to rudely (not that there was a way to do it nicely) kick her friend out of bed.

Elodia fell to the floor with a loud thump. A whimper followed not long after.

"Ow." Elodia glared viciously at Mary as she got up from the floor.

"I warned you," was all Mary had to say.

"Did you ever think that I was _asleep_? So maybe I COULDN'T HEAR YOU?" Elodia said, lying back down in her bed. Mary kicked her out again before she could manage to fall back to sleep.

"OW!" Elodia cried getting up off the floor yet again. "Stop doing that!"

"You need to stay awake. Breakfast started like 15 minutes ago," Mary told her. Elodia looked like she wanted to complain but decided against it.

"Where did the rest of those idiots go?" She asked instead.

"To breakfast. Obviously," answered Mary.

"You don't have to say it like that – like it's the most obvious thing in the world and I'm so daft for not putting it together earlier," Elodia said crossly. Mary looked at her, amused.

"I didn't even say it like that," said Mary and Elodia could hear the laughing tone in it.

"But you did wake me up. And that's a crime in itself."

"Those two things aren't even remotely related."

"Maybe they are. Maybe you're just not thinking hard enough."

Mary stared at her friend bewilderedly. "What… What are you even _saying_?"

"I don't know. I'm tired and you woke me up. You're the one at fault here."

"I'll still be getting the shower first, so who's the real winner here?"

"I am."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"You're just jealous, Mare."

"Why I would be jealous of you?"

"Why wouldn't you be jealous of me?"

"There are a _lot_ of reasons."

"Tart."

"Slag."

"Whore."

"Wench."

"Cow."

"Spotty Cow."

"That was remarkably unimpressive."

Luckily, Lily walked out of the bathroom at that moment because Mary wouldn't have been able to come up with a witty reply to that. Instead, she ran into the bathroom, leaving Elodia stunned.

"That's just _dirty_," she said, looking very put out.

"Hm?" Lily asked as she dried her wavy hair and pulled it into a ponytail.

"We were having a conversation and she just walked out on me," Elodia complained with a moan. Lily rolled her eyes.

"You sound like a dying whale."

"I am a dying whale."

"I always knew you were too fat to be human."

Elodia scowled, "Lily Evans, do you have a death wish?"

"Like you could even lay a hand on me."

"True. I probably couldn't with Potter there to protect you," smirked Elodia. Lily turned to look at her with a distinct look of horror.

"That was fucking _low_, Elle," she said before turning back to her makeup.

"What's going on there anyways?" Elodia asked, pressing the subject.

"Absolutely nothing."

"Elodia snorted. "That's about as plausible as saying Pettigrew is a hippogriff."

"Well, you never know."

Elodia snorted yet again, saying, "You'd really go that far?"

"To disprove something that's _obviously_ not true – yes."

"It's not as obvious as you think," Elodia said and Lily groaned.

"Can we just go a day without mentioning Potter? For Merlin's sake…"

"You could stop mentioning him."

"I didn't!"

"Well, you could stop making it so easy."

"Well, you could stop taking the opportunity."

"That's like telling McGonagall to stop being stern."

"That's… perfectly reasonable."

"_That's_ like saying Slughorn doesn't love you."

"He doesn't!"

Elodia scoffed. "Yeah, okay."

"I'm very tempted to leave you here and go to breakfast," warned Lily who had long since finished her makeup.

"But you won't," Elodia told her, smirking.

"Am I really that predicable?"

"Yes."

Lily gives her a look, as if she was expecting Elodia to tell her otherwise. The other girl shrugs in response.

"You shouldn't have asked me if you wanted a comforting response." Lily cursed her friend's frankness.

"Oh, yes, I forgot – you've little to no tact."

"Good that you've realized. Now, why isn't Mary out of the shower yet?"

"Because she's cleansing her body." Elodia shot Lily a look.

"Well, thanks for that image."

"My pleasure." Elodia scowled. She would've countered that with another witty statement, but she hadn't the time, you see, because Mary had finally left the bathroom.

"Finally!" Elodia said before walking calmly into the bathroom herself. She was the last person to go in, so there was no need for her to rush. Mary, too, took her time walking over to the vanity to take care of her appearance.

"Hurry up, Mare, I'm hungry," Lily complained as she sat down on Sadie's bed.

"We still have to wait for Elodia," Mary replied reasonably.

"Ugh. Why do we have to be loyal people?"

"I know! We live such hard lives, don't we?"

"The most difficult lives in all of the land."

"No, Lily, you killed it."

"Yeah, I kind of did."

"You're losing your touch."

At this, Lily scoffed, "I wouldn't go _that_ far."

"I would," Mary said wryly as she hiked up her skirt.

"That's because you're… _you_."

"Wow," marveled Mary sarcastically. "Informative. No, really, I never would've have suspected-"

"Alright, fine, you can stop."

Mary smirked. "Oh, _the_ Lily Evans, known for her unbeatable stubbornness, admits defeat?"

"Take a picture; this is not going to happen again."

"Oh, the possibilities," Mary continued as if Lily had not even spoken. "Next, she'll admit that she's wrong! Ah, well, that might be a little farfetched," she added as an afterthought.

"That's because I'm never wrong."

"That's because you refuse to listen."

"I always listen."

"No, you always listen to what you want to hear."

"I wasn't aware that today was Pick-On-Lily Day."

"Oh, no, that's next Tuesday."

"Good to know."

They were silent for a while as Mary debated with herself on how many buttons she should leave open. "Hey, Lil?"

"Yeah?"

"How many buttons should I leave open?"

"One."

"No – Lily, I'm not a prude."

"Would you rather a slag?"

Mary seemed to think about this. "Yeah."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Fine, then two."

"Maybe three," Mary contemplated, disregarding Lily's suggestion. "It shows just the right amount of cleavage without looking like your trying too hard."

"I'd beg to differ."

"But two," pondered Mary, still ignoring her best friend. "It shows less cleavage and you don't feel too exposed – and we wouldn't want that, right Lil?

"Oh, you want my opinion now?"

"I always want your opinion!" Mary protested, oblivious. Lily rolled her eyes yet again.

"I mean, you cared _so much_ about it just a few seconds ago," Lily muttered to herself.

"What was that?" Mary asked, still painfully oblivious, as she unbuttoned her blouse two buttons and surveyed her appearance in the mirror.

"Oh, nothing," Lily replied nonchalantly.

It was then that Elodia walked out of the bathroom.

"See, I don't take as long as the rest of you," she said as she positioned herself in front of the mirror. With her wand, she magically dried and styled her hair the way she always did – causal waves. Quicker the rest of her dorm mates, she did her makeup magically, as well.

"Well, let's go," Elodia said as she put on her robes and grabbed her satchel. Her friends did the same, a little bemusedly – because, well, let's face it, Elodia beat them all in terms of time and productivity – and followed her out the door.

"I still can't believe those chumps left us her to rot," Mary commented airily as they left the Common Room.

"I seem to remember you telling them to leave," pointed out Elodia. Mary scowled at her.

"They could, at least, have been loyal friends like Lily and I and wait."

"True, true," Elodia admitted. The girls walked the rest of the way to the Great Hall in a companionable silence, only filled at random intervals with Elodia's yawns. When they had arrived for breakfast, they had noticed that their friends had taken seats with the Gryffindor boys in their year. Though they went there without protest, Lily had to suppress a grimace.

She and James may have been on somewhat good terms, but it was very fragile. It felt as though they were walking on glass around each other. Parts of her still thought he was immature and pratish but another part of her wanted things to be civil between them. And she was confused on where they stood. They still didn't seem like friends in her eyes – not at all – but they were something close. She hadn't exactly forgiven him for _everything_ and they couldn't _really_ be friends unless she trusted him. And she didn't. At all.

In spite of her internal struggle, Lily put on a smile and sat down next to Marlene and started filling her plate.

"Hello, again, thanks for leaving us this morning," Mary started as she sat down across from Lily and next to Dorcas. Marlene rolled her eyes.

"You told us to leave," Marlene said, bored.

"That's what I keep telling her," Elodia muttered so only Lily could hear. She stifled a laugh.

"I didn't mean you should!" protested Mary.

"Then maybe you should be more clear," Dorcas said wryly. Mary only just stopped herself from sticking her fork into Dorcas' hand.

"Maybe you should be more loyal friends!" Mary argued. Sadie scoffed.

"Should I even bring up the amount of times you've done this to us?"

"Oh, she's got a valid point there," Lily whispered to Elodia.

"Very true," Elodia agreed.

"It must be time for me to intervene," Lily suggested.

"Yup," Elodia said, not turning away from her food.

"Hey, Mare," Lily started pointedly. Mary stopped glaring at her other friends to look at her.

"Yeah?"

"You're overreacting," Lily said matter-of-factly. "Sit tight and eat your food."

Mary looked extremely offended. Marlene, Dorcas, and Sadie had trouble hiding their laughter.

"Did you just-?"

"Yup," Lily interrupted, looking very disinterested.

Peter chose this as a perfect time to speak up. "Sorry MacDonald, but you just got _told_."

Dorcas head bobbed up and down as she fervently nodded, not bothering to stifle her laugh this time. Mary glared at them both.

"Whatever. Don't think I'll forget about this anytime soon, though," Mary warned and turned back to her food. Lily just waved a hand.

"Oh, look, Minnie's coming with our timetables," Sirius observed. He was correct; Professor McGonagall, their Head of House, was making her way down the Gryffindor table, handing out schedules. The sixth years, however, were sitting in at the end of table, so they would be one of the last to receive their schedules.

"And she's all the way over there," James noted, a bit too wryly for Sirius' tastes.

"But, soon, she'll be over here," Sirius said, pursing his lips.

"That's not now, is it?" James and Sirius continued to bicker and everyone just blocked them out.

"How many N.E.W.T. classes are you lot taking?" Remus asked his friends.

"All the main subjects and Ancient Runes. I've dropped Divination, though," Lily answered. Mary let out a squeak of outrage.

"You've dropped Divination?! You were supposed to be my saving grace!" she exclaimed.

"The class is rubbish! You should've dropped it too!"

"I thought you were doing so we could suffer together!" Mary complained burring her in Dorcas' shoulder.

Peter spoke up. "Uh, MacDonald, I'm still taking Divination, and so is Sirius, if it's any comfort."

Mary lifted her face, looking hopefully. "Really?"

"Yeah." Mary beamed at him.

"Oh, this is great! Now I won't be alone because of certain traitor friends!" she said cheerfully, jabbing at Lily not-so discreetly.

"Who else is taking Magical Creatures?" Elodia pondered.

"I am," Marlene said and Dorcas nodded along with her.

"I am and, I think, James is too," Remus supplied. Hearing his name, James joined the conversation, taking Sirius with him.

"James is too what?" he asked curiously.

"Annoying?" Sirius suggested. In retaliation, James hit Sirius over the head.

"Aren't you taking Magical Creatures?" Remus asked James, ignoring Sirius, who was pouting.

"Yeah, and Arithmancy. But I dropped History of Magic," said James.

"Same!" Sirius said. "That class was a waste of space."

Everyone made sounds of agreement. Well, everyone except Lily and Remus, who looked sheepish.

"I'm still taking it," Lily confessed, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Yeah, me too," Remus admitted.

"Well," James said, "it's your funeral."

Marlene nodded. "Literally."

Behind her, Professor McGonagall now stood primly. Turning around, Sirius grinned at her.

"Hullo, McGee," he sang gleefully. The teacher to which he was referring just rolled her eyes.

"Yes, hello, Mr. Black. Here are you-"

She was interrupted by Sirius. "What? That's all I get?"

"Yes," she deadpanned. "As I was saying, here are your schedules for this year." True to her word, she gave her sixth years their respective timetables before sidling down to the next group of students.

Lily read hers instantly. "We've got double Transfiguration first today," she told them. Everyone but James, Sirius, and Remus groaned.

"I wish we didn't absolutely need that class," Mary complained. Sadie nodded fervently.

"If only," she agreed.

James grinned at them. "I think Transfiguration is brilliant."

Sadie scowled at him. "That's because you're abnormally great at it. Wanker."

"True, that is part of it," he states in a mock pompous tone.

"But the other part is all the time spent with Minnie," said Sirius with a smirk.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot you liked to torment her," Mary said dryly.

"Not torment, no, I wouldn't say _that_," Sirius brushed her comment off. "I'd like to say we brighten her day."

Remus snorted. "Most definitely," he commented sarcastically.

"Exactly! I knew you'd agree with us one day!" James exclaimed. Remus snorted yet again.

"The day I agree with you is the day I've finally gone mad," he said.

Before James could retort, the bell signaling ten minutes before their first class rang, and the sixth years started to clean up and get ready to go.

* * *

After lunch, Lily had a free period. Her plan had been to go back to the Common Room and start the Transfiguration homework, but it wasn't her fault that her plans had been thwarted. You see, on her way to Gryffindor Tower, a familiar face showed up.

"Se-Snape," she greeted the Slytherin coldly. He winced.

"Lily," he said with conviction, "please forgive me!"

"You went too far! Don't you understand? It was more than you just calling me Mudblood!" she yelled back in frustration. "You want to become a Death Eater! You want to kill Muggles!"

"You're not a Muggle, you have magic!"

"But my parents are Muggles – what of them? I'm a Mudblood, you said it yourself. I'm just as bad as Muggles, aren't I?"

"Yes, Evans, I'm glad you've finally seen reason." A new voice entered the argument. Lily scowled at Avery, and Mulciber, who followed his friend.

"Nice to see you too, Avery. Mulciber," she acknowledged them frostily, glaring at Snape all the while for not speaking up.

"What are you doing talking to the Mudblood, huh, Snape?" Mulciber asked Snape, ignoring Lily. Know he was losing serious points, Snape stayed quiet.

"That's what I thought," said Mulciber, smirking. Avery walked closer to Lily, seemingly inspecting her as if she was an animal at a zoo. He took out his wand and Lily shifted, reaching for her own.

"I'm a prefect, remember that Avery," she told him.

"Watch yourself there, Evans. Being a prefect won't do much for you, I'm afraid," he sneered.

"That wouldn't be the best idea," she countered. He smirked.

"I think I'll be the judge of that." Now he was close enough for her to smell his putrid breath, prodding his wand threateningly into her side. Lily hid her nerves by directing her best glare at him.

But, before she could seize control over the situation herself, yet another person arrived.

"Oh, this is one interesting scene," a voice said. Lily realized that it belonged to Sirius Black.

"Having a friendly chat?" he asked causally, standing behind Lily.

"Of course," Avery grinned evilly.

"Well, while that's great, I'm gonna go take Evans here. We've got classes soon," Sirius said, grabbing Lily's arm a bit too roughly. Without another word, he guided Lily away from the three Slytherins and to Gryffindor Tower.

Once they we out ear shot, Sirius turned on Lily.

"What the bloody hell were you doing back there?" he demanded. Lily only just got over her shock fast enough to glare back at him.

"I was headed to the tower. It's not my fault they got in my way!" argued Lily.

"With everything that's going on right now," Sirius countered, alluding to the state of affairs the rest of the magical community was in. "You'd think you'd be more careful! You're Muggle-born! You can't be hanging around Death Eater all the time! I thought you had sense, Evans!"

"Because, surely, I can help when I'm corners," Lily retorted sarcastically.

"Just… Watch your back, Evans. Someone won't be able to help you every time," Sirius warned her before turning on the spot to go in the opposite direction.

Lily was left wondering how she could've possible helped the situation.

* * *

That day, the Gryffindors had their first Defense Against the Dark Arts class of the year. Every year, because the position was supposedly cursed, there was a new teacher. Last year's was rubbish – he wouldn't have known an _Expelliarmus_ from a _Stupefy_. Maybe, James' hoped, Professor Lynch would be better.

As he sauntered into the classroom, with the rest of the Marauders trailing behind him, he noticed the professor's absence. The rest of the class was there – the Marauders were always late, after all. They sat down in the back, like always, while the girls were already seated in the front.

"Where do you think he is?" James asked his friends.

"I don't know," was the mutual reply.

James didn't have to wait too long to receive his answer, however, because Professor Lynch walked into the classroom a few minutes later.

To make his entrance dramatic, the Marauders supposed, he marched loudly into the room, each one of his steps pronounced with a _clunk_. He closed the shades with his wand once he was in the front of the room.

Eyes adjusting to the sudden darkness, James shared a look with his fellow Marauders – this teacher meant business.

"I am your Defense teach this year," he stated. James was tempted to make a sarcastic remark, but he stopped himself just in time. Defense was a necessary thing at that point in time, and he felt that he should let the professor explain himself first.

"I'm a former Auror, and I _know_ what it's like out there." At this, James and Sirius exchange another look, this time excited at the prospect of being taught by someone competent.

"This war – and yes, I will call it war. I do not believe in sugarcoating things that you have a right to know. This is your world – and, therefore, your war. As I was saying, this war is not a joke. It's not something to be happy about. You could die. You could live – but, chances are, you'll be left more dead than alive. What you need to learn this year is how to _survive_.

"I'm determined to teach you how to survive out in the real world, because, guess what? You'll be living out there in two years, no longer protected by the confines of these walls. Whether you chose to fight or not is your choice, but I will teach you how to defend. At one point in this _war_, you will need to defend. I assure you that by the time you are boarding that train at the end of this year, you will know how to survive."

After that dramatic speech, the sixth years all looked at each other, wide eyed. Professor Lynch seemed immensely pleased with that reaction, it seemed, as he grinned suddenly. It looked unnatural and abnormal, as his face had been set in a scowl up until then. His face didn't seem ready for it either.

Inside James' head, he was thinking that Lynch might've been on to something. The war, to him, had always seemed so far away – something that had been left for the papers only. But, now, Lynch had even called it war. Hearing him call it war made it seem that much more real. He had always known he'd wanted to fight and now there might just be a chance to learn what he needed to learn.

Lynch spoke once again. "Get into groups, two each," he commanded and all students listened. After the scrambling was over, James was in a group with Sirius. Lynch cleared a space at the front of the classroom.

Looking straight at James and Sirius, he pointed to them. "You two – names?"

They answered immediately. "James Potter."

"Sirius Black."

Lynch's lips pressed into a thin line when he heard Sirius' last name and James felt a bit of protectiveness flare up inside of him.

"Duel. Front of the classroom," Lynch commanded after a moment. James and Sirius walked over to the designated area and banished their wands. They bowed mockingly at each other, lips twitching.

"Whoever is the first disarmed wins," Lynch used his wand to maintain a shield between the rest of the class and James and Sirius. With a nod, he gave them permission to start.

"_Expelliarmus_!" yelled Sirius and James put up a shield charm easily. This seemed to make Sirius determined to beat him, as he started flinging curses as fast as possible. James, on the defense, kept his shield up, but couldn't get a spell in otherwise.

In a particularly deft move, James deflected one of Sirius' jelly-leg jinxes, and it hit Sirius back. Now barely able to stand up, Sirius couldn't keep up his spells.

James grinned, yelling, "_Rictusempra_!" Sirius was hit dead on, and keeled over, laughing too hard. With a particularly cocky smirk, James disarmed him easily, winning.

After lifting the jinx, James got a nasty glower from Sirius for turning out the victor. Professor Lynch ordered them to go back to their seats and stood in the front of the classroom once more.

"Good job, Mr. Potter – five points to Gryffindor – but it was too easy. Both you and Mr. Black were treating this as if it was a joke, using elementary spells. In a war, you'd have to use much more sinister spells is you even want half a chance of survival," Lynch explained. "That means killing and injuring, if it means staying alive. The other side with definitely use worse, and if your sticking to first-year spells, how will you live?" the teacher asked them rhetorically.

The Marauders, this time, exchanged a worried glace. To them, Lynch seemed a bit barmy. And…correct. The Death Eaters won't have any qualms about killing anyone, so why should they? It was just that the idea of killing was unnerving to not only the Marauders but every student in the room. How were they supposed to survive if they were too afraid to kill?

* * *

**A/N:** This was a hard one to write, if I'm being honest. I wasn't sure were to end or not, and I wanted to add one more scene, but it wouldn't have made sense and ugh. At least I got this one out much quicker than the last. I am loving Professor Lynch, I must tell you, though.


End file.
